Lightning Strikes Twice
by wolfe80
Summary: AU set after Season 3. Not Movie Compliant. Veronica returns to Neptune after 8 years away to discover many things have changed and somethings remained a little too much the same.
1. Chapter 1 - Homeward Bound

_**Notes: I've started with publishing this on AO3 and decided to put it on FF too. I'll work on adding chapters here, but may take a few days to get them all loaded. The format here in FF is a bit more complicated than AO3, so I apologize if it comes though strangely.**_

_**I've been inspired by so many other VM FFs and decided to give it a try myself. This is my first story, so I hope you all enjoy it.**_

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 1 – Homeward Bound

Veronica sat on her couch in her modest one bedroom apartment in Massachusetts, staring at her cell phone on the table in front of her. The sun was already setting, casting dark shadows across the living room, while the room grew progressively darker. As far as hump days go, this had to be by far the worst one she could ever remember. She thinks back to how last Friday when her dad had called to try to convince her to come out to Neptune to celebrate his 50th birthday party, everything here was '_sunny side up_'. She was loving life here in one of the small towns in Cape Cod, working a decent enough job for the DA's office.

Somehow between Friday and now she'd not only managed to get suspended from her job at the DA's office, but also discovered that her policeman boyfriend of almost a year was cheating on her with his recently assigned female partner. On top of all that, in another 15 days she'd also be looking for a new place to live as she had been planning to move in with Dillon when her lease expired. That was going to work out really well if she was still suspended, or worse yet, actually fired.

Finally having made the decision to get the heck out of dodge, at least until the suspension was resolved, she picked up the phone and flipped through her contact list. After taking one deep breath, she pressed her finger on the screen and held the phone to her ear.

"Veronica?" Keith said with a slight bit of hesitation when he answered the phone. They normally only talked on Fridays, so he wasn't exactly expecting to hear from her in the middle of the week.

"Hey Daddio!" Veronica chirped into the phone. "I was reconsidering your offer to come out and visit for your birthday."

"That's great honey! We'll all be so happy to see you! When do you plan to fly out?"

"I was thinking I'd catch a red-eye out tomorrow night," she said hesitantly waiting for his response.

"OK… but you do remember that Alicia and I are going on a cruise to celebrate my birthday and our anniversary, and we leave tomorrow and won't be back for 18 days, right?" Keith asked starting to wonder what was actually going on.

"Yeah, I thought I could house sit for you and check on things at the office while you're gone. You know, get the mail, do some filing, all that great fun secretarial stuff that you know I miss so much."

"Veronica, what's going on?" Keith's voice was heavy with concern now.

She put on her best smile and tried to convey that through the phone, "I thought working in the office for you and house sitting could be part of my early birthday present to you."

"Sorry honey, I'm not buying it. On Friday you didn't think you'd be able to get away to fly out here for even a few days, and now you want to come early just to play secretary and house sitter for almost three weeks?"

She sighed, "Everything's fine dad," she paused for a second, "I just need to get out of town for a while and we can talk more about it when you get back from your cruise."

He tried to press her for more information, but wasn't able to get anything else out of her, besides the fact that it would just be her, and that Dillon would not be joining her. Since he and Alicia were leaving in the morning, Veronica said she'd give Wallace a call to see if he could pick her up at the airport and give her his copy of Keith and Alicia's house key.

As soon as she disconnected the call with her dad, she dialed Wallace's phone. "Hey little brother, what's up with you?" she cheerily said into the phone as he picked up the call.

"You know that never gets old," he complained sarcastically.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I know being the middle child can be really tough on a child," she teased back.

"Did you just call to harass me V?"

"Actually I need to ask you for a favor, so I suppose I probably shouldn't have led with my annoying big sister material, huh."

They made arrangements for him to pick her up early on Friday morning at the airport, making him only a little late for school, but he assured her that he'd be able to arrange for a substitute for his morning classes. He was a little less pushy about trying to figure out what was going on with her than Keith was, but warned her that she'd better plan to give up the information when she gets into town.

She'd already started packing up her apartment to move over to Dillon's before this entire week went to hell, so she plans to spend Thursday morning getting all of the boxes into a storage unit, and arranging for some movers to come later and get the furniture out. She packs up several suit cases with things she knows she'll want for the next few weeks and gets ready to head back to Neptune.

While a small part of her is looking forward to seeing her friends and family again, a bigger part is dreading what she's going to discover when she gets there. 8 years is a long time to be gone, and with only a couple short trips back over the years, she hasn't stayed in close touch with many people there. She finally makes it to bed and drifts off to a restless sleep with all the things that are plaguing her mind.


	2. Chapter 2 - Neptune

**_Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did._**

Chapter 2 – Neptune

Wallace picked Veronica up at the airport then dropped her off at Keith and Alicia's house before heading back to work. They agreed that he would swing by later to pick her up for dinner with Mac. Veronica was exhausted from the long flight and everything she had to get done the day before, so she took a short nap once she got her bags settled in the guest room.

She felt more refreshed when she woke up around noon, so decided to head out and grab a sandwich and drop in at the Mars Investigations office. She thought she'd rifle through some of Keith's open case files to see if there were any she could work on while she was in town to keep herself busy and not preoccupied with all the problems she left behind in Massachusetts.

It was a comforting feeling to be back in the old office. She had an uneasy feeling in her stomach as she climbed the stairs and unlocked the door, but once she settled down at the small couch to eat her sandwich, old memories replaced her nervous thoughts. After she was done eating, she started digging into the files that were sitting on her old desk. She stacked them into simple cases that she might be able to help with and others that would probably be best left for her dad to deal with when he was back. She started going through some of the simple ones, and pulled up a few back ground check reports on the computer in her dad's office.

Enjoying the familiarity of the work, she lost track of the time and suddenly realized she needed to head back to the house to get ready for dinner. As she opened the door to leave, she practically ran into someone who was on their way into the office.

"Veronica?" the tall, dark haired, handsome young man said. A look of surprise crossed his face.

"Casey?" Veronica replied, once she realized she was standing face to face with Casey Gant. "What are you doing here?"

"I was actually hoping to talk with your dad about hiring him for a case. I didn't realize you were in Neptune. I thought I'd heard you were back East."

"Yeah, I just got back into town this morning actually. My dad is on a cruise and won't be back to town for another 12 days. I was keeping my self busy working on some of his cases while he's gone."

"Oh, I see," Casey said, seeming a little unsure how to proceed.

Veronica quickly picked up on his apprehension, "Maybe I can help you with your case while he's gone if you'd like."

"That would be great. I'd really appreciate it so much," Casey replied, "Do you want to discuss it over dinner tonight? You could tell me all about what you've been up to all these years and I can tell you about what I was hoping your dad could help me with."

"I'm afraid I'm actually late to meet Wallace and Mac for dinner right now, but maybe tomorrow?"

Casey shook his head and regrettably replied, "I'm going to be out of town until late on Sunday, how about we meet Monday night for dinner?"

"That sounds perfect. It's really great to see you again Casey," she added with a kind smile.

They walked back down the stairs together after she locked the door. She gave him her cell phone number so he could send her details on Monday about where and when they'd meet.

As she headed back to her dad's house, she reflected on her brief conversation with Casey and was pleased that he seemed more like the 'Moon Calf cult' version of Casey, rather than the snobby 09'er Casey. He seemed genuinely thankful that Veronica was willing to meet with him to talk about the case. As she drove back to the house, she realized she was actually looking forward to spending some time with him. She figured that was probably due to the fact that besides Wallace and Mac, she really didn't have anyone else in town that she planned to visit with. Spending some time with a handsome Publishing Executive was certainly a better alternative to sitting home alone waiting for her dad to get back, or sitting around waiting to hear about her fate in Massachusetts.

Wallace arrived shortly after she had finished changing into something a little nicer for dinner. Even though they were just going to Luigi's, she still felt like her outfit from earlier in the day was a bit too casual for dinner there.

Daryl was in high school now, and while he was old enough to be home alone, Keith and Alicia weren't keen on the idea of what sort of trouble he might get into on his own, so he was staying with a close friend's family while they were on their cruise. He had stopped by though to pick up a few things, and was headed out the door as Wallace arrived. He gave him a quick greeting as he left and Veronica grabbed her purse from where she'd thrown it earlier.

Mac was meeting them at the restaurant since she was running a little late doing some tech work at City Hall. After graduating from College, Mac had initially gone to work for a tech company in San Francisco, but didn't really enjoy the monotony of the 9-5 job, so she came back to Neptune and started her own tech consulting business. With it being obvious to Mrs. Sinclair that Mac realized who her real biological parents were in high school, they eventually addressed it with the rest of the family members and worked on getting to know each other better. With the connections that the Sinclair's were able to provide her, as well as her own connections from college, Mac was quickly able to establish a very full client list and was doing quite well with her own consulting business.

When Mac arrived at the restaurant, Veronica stood up and gave her a big hug. Her hair was back to being a shorter bob, but she still had her unique sense of style, with pink tips spread throughout the dark brown strands. Veronica was thrilled to finally get to see her old friend in person. It had been quite a few years since they had been together, as they could never quite work out times that worked for both of them the last few times Veronica had briefly visited.

Mac and Wallace had agreed with Veronica when they sat down to eat that they would give her a few days to get settled before they forced all the details out of her. She did offer up that she was definitely done with Dillon and on an extended leave from the DA's office, but she didn't want to get into all the details of either situation yet. She also mentioned that she wasn't really sure if she wanted to return to Massachusetts, stay in Neptune, or find some place new. The two friends exchanged concerned looks as they listened to Veronica admit her uncertainty about her future plans.

They passed some of the time with Wallace sharing a few stories about things that had been going on at the high school. He was a science teacher there, and also coached the JV Basketball team. He'd recently started dating Cora Briggs who had moved back to Neptune after finishing college and was teaching at one of the elementary schools. They had run into each other at a district-wide teachers conference and started reminiscing about high school and their previous mutual friend Jackie Cook. So far things were going really well between the two of them, and he insisted that Veronica join them later in the week for dinner so she could catch up with her as well.

Mac seemed to grow a bit uncomfortable when the dating topic came up and tried to change the conversation to other plans Veronica had while she was in town. Veronica suggested they all go out to a club the next night for drinks and dancing, and was surprised when they both shot each other the same guilty look.

"Sorry V, but we both already have plans for tomorrow night," Wallace quickly answered when he saw that Veronica had noticed their reaction. "Remember I mentioned to you a while ago that there was an annual fundraiser for charity that we are both attending."

"Oh right," Veronica answered thinking back on the details of that conversation. "It's like a Masquerade Ball or something right? Aren't you some sort of eligible bachelor that all the women get to fawn over?" She winked and gave him a teasing smile.

As she was talking, a near mirror image of what Mac had looked like when she was 17 stopped at the end of their table and yelled, "Mac!"

A big smile flashed across Mac's face as she turned to see Lauren Sinclair, her biological sister standing there. Lauren sat down with the three of them for a few minutes, while she waited for her date to get them a table. After some brief introductions, Lauren jumped back to the topic of the Masquerade Ball that she had over heard as she walked up to the table. She gushed on and on about how much fun she'd heard the ball was, from both Madison and Mac, since they had both attended in prior years. She was bummed that they had a strict 21 and over policy since there was an open bar and the group that put on the event didn't want to worry about any legal issues. She couldn't wait until she turned 21 and could start attending too.

Veronica was definitely sold on it given Lauren's obvious enthusiasm and asked if she could go along with Mac and Wallace too.

"Sorry Veronica," Mac said in her most apologetic and sincere voice, "there are a limited number of tickets sold each year and I know that all the tickets were sold last week since I've been helping to organize it."

"Hey," Lauren happily chimed in, "I'm pretty sure mom bought Madi a pair of tickets, but she's staying up in Napa with that tool of a boyfriend Todd that she started seeing, so she won't be coming down this weekend. I'm sure mom would be happy to let you use one of the tickets. Let me send her a quick text."

"Great," Mac said, trying to sound enthusiastic while shooting a bit of a worried look at Wallace. Veronica was luckily paying more attention to Lauren and didn't seem to notice it.

Lauren's phone beeped a moment later and she smiled and said that her mom was happy to let Veronica use one of the tickets and that they could swing by and pick it up anytime tomorrow. She also insisted that Mac bring Veronica to their family dinner on Sunday night so they could all see her again. Lauren's date waved to get her attention, and she quickly said her good byes and went to join the young man that she had arrived with.

Lauren's enthusiasm had rubbed off on Veronica and she was looking forward to attending the event. She convinced Mac to go shopping with her the next day to find a suitable ball gown, since she definitely hadn't brought anything along with her for a formal event. Veronica thought Mac was acting a bit strange about it all, but given this was the first time she'd seen her in years, she wasn't exactly confident that she still knew her as well as she used to. She wasn't surprised that she was less than enthusiastic about going shopping, that was pretty similar to the old Mac, but she was thankful that she did agree to go with her.

As promised, Mac picked her up in the morning to take her shopping. Mac knew of a boutique in town that specialized in masks, since that wasn't something that was easy to find just anywhere. Veronica was surprised by the large selection of masks that they carried. Some were quite ornate, decorated with feathers and jewels. She didn't care for the feathers though, as they tickled her face. She finally found a beautiful one that she loved that was a bit simple in shape, but it had glittery gold swirls and shades of lavender on it and it was comfortable too. Once she had settled on the mask, they started looking for a dress that would coordinate well with it. She found one in a similar lavender shade that complimented her petite size while enhancing her curves. It had a full flowing skirt but was made with light fabric that would work well for dancing. The top was a halter style with a plunging v-neck. Mac assured her that it was a perfect fit for the other types of dresses that would be at the ball.

After stopping to find the perfect pair of shoes, grab some lunch and pick up the ticket from the Sinclair's, Mac returned Veronica to Keith's house to get ready for the night. Veronica had really enjoyed spending the day with Mac. While she had a couple of female friends back in Massachusetts, she was usually too busy with work to do a lot of socializing. Veronica was excited to have something to put her focus into, and spent more time than she would have ever expected working on her hair and makeup. She decided to wear her shoulder length hair up, with a few strands loosely framing her face. She could barely remember the last formal event she'd even attended, and couldn't help but reminisce back to getting ready for homecoming with Lilly when they were younger.


	3. Chapter 3 - Masquerade Ball

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 3 – Masquerade Ball

Mac arrived early enough to pick up Veronica so they could grab some dinner before heading off to the fundraiser at the Yacht Club. They agreed to try out the newest Sushi restaurant that had just recently opened in Neptune. Mac volunteered to be the designated driver for the evening so Veronica could enjoy herself.

Shortly after arriving at the restaurant Mac's cell phone beeped, and she checked it and sent off a quick text in reply. Veronica tried to catch a glimpse at the message, but Mac strategically kept her phone out of her view. Her phone continued to go off in about 15 minute intervals. Veronica finally makes a comment about how popular she is, and Mac just laughs it off dismissing it without actually giving her an answer.

They talk a little bit about the fundraiser during dinner. Mac explained how the benefit was started a couple years ago by the Mayor and the funds go to a non-profit organization in town that works with abused kids. They sell tickets to the event as part of the fundraising effort and then the Mayor's office recruits single male volunteers to sell off dances slots with them through out the night. While the tickets are only $100 to attend the event, each dance with one of the eligible men costs another $200. She briefly mentions how they had to create a rule that a woman could only buy 2 dances with the same guy due to some issues they had the first year they started it. They have it set up so that there are usually short breaks between each dance to swap out the new partners and then they put in a few longer breaks for people to mingle and have some time to rest and get drinks.

She goes on to explain how the Yacht Club had donated use of their facility for the event and all of the catering and event work is donated as well so all of the proceeds go toward the charity organization. Mac had been involved with it initially helping to set up a system to easily take payment at the event and to keep track of all the financial information. They normally had about 15 single guys volunteer and they sold off 15 dances during the 2 hour event, so they normally raised about $60,000 each year for the organization. It was an event attended by couples as well as single ladies who wanted to dance with the towns eligible single men while donating to a good cause.

Mac finally finished up her dinner after Veronica commented several times that she didn't remember her being such a slow eater. Veronica wasn't quite sure why Mac seemed less than thrilled about going to the event. Lauren had made it sound like a total blast the night before, but Mac seemed to be hesitant even then about having Veronica join her. Given her obvious delay to get there, Veronica was starting to get suspicious about what sort of secret Mac was hiding. She hadn't really been forth coming yet about whether she was currently seeing anyone special, and Veronica wondered if the barrage of texts were coming from a certain guy waiting for her at the fundraiser.

As they finally arrived at the event, Mac realized she had the bad luck of getting there between dance sets as she notices the dance floor is clear and people are standing around mingling. She cringes to herself and hopes that Veronica doesn't pick up on her nervous behavior. She tried to casually glance around to assess where various people might be in the giant ball room without raising Veronica's suspicions.

After checking in their purses with a coat check girl, they walked farther into the room and Veronica finally had a chance to really take in the scene. The ball room at the Yacht Club is a gorgeous venue, with large windows along the side that faces out to the water with all the yachts and sailboats moored there. At one end of the room was the dance floor and at the opposite end was a bar with tables and chairs spread around. While Veronica wasn't sure what to expect, it looked like people were enjoying themselves and there's a very excited vibe floating around the room. It was easy for her to understand Lauren's excitement about attending when she was older now that she was there.

Veronica's focus shifted to a tall, well built man across the room with quite a group of ladies around him all seeming to be vying for his attention. He was in a very expensive looking black tux with a very distinctive gold and red mask that coordinated with a red bow tie. Even from across the room, Veronica could tell that he seems to be in great shape with broad shoulders and a chiseled look even in his face that would go along with being athletic. He had a small amount of facial hair, which normally Veronica didn't like, but he still seems to have a handsome look about him. Although Veronica was quickly realizing that with all the masks, it really was hard to identify anyone. She briefly chuckled to herself thinking about old TV shows like Zorro or the Lone Ranger.

"Who's the guy the women are falling all over?" she asked Mac, pointing in his direction.

Mac turned and looked before replying, "Oh that's just the Mayor."

"Wow, much younger and fitter than any Mayor I remember when I lived here." Veronica replied nonchalantly.

Mac just chuckled softly and decided to steer her toward the bar, but before she can make it more than a few steps farther, a deep familiar voice sounds from just a few feet away.

"Speedy!" the tall blonde man says as he sweeps Mac up into a big hug and spins her around planting a chaste kiss on her lips. "I was starting to worry about you!" The man doesn't immediately notice Veronica standing there with Mac.

Mac quickly teases back "It's a masquerade ball, you shouldn't be able to tell who I am." He laughs and flicks at the pink tips of her cropped dark hair and rolls his eyes.

He continues on with his focus only on Mac, "You look absolutely gorgeous tonight, Babe. Oh, before I forget I better give you your dance tickets. I got your text in time and put you down for spots later in the night since you were running late. I bought you a couple with the Mayor too since you know how fragile his ego is and how he pouts like a little girl if his dance card isn't full for the night." He starts to chuckle as he looks at the small cards in his hand, "You've got me for 7 and 10 and him for 8 and 12. I'm glad you finally made it since they just finished up 5 and I need to get ready to go back out there for 6. I was starting to worry that you'd miss our first dance." He stops and gives her a seductive grin.

"Dick?" Veronica finally interjects into the back and forth that she's been silently watching going on between the man and Mac, an obvious amount of shock in her tone. Even behind a mask, with his voice, demeanor and mop of blonde hair it's unmistakably Dick Casablancas.

Dick finally registers that there is a petite blonde woman standing with Mac, and as he recognizes the voice, his eyes grow wide in disbelief. He stares at Veronica for a moment as his mouth drops open, but no words come out. Then he shifts his attention back to Mac, who sheepishly says "surprise?" turning up one eyebrow to indicate it more as a question than a statement.

Dick continued to stand there in disbelief for a few moments with his gaze quickly shifting back and forth between the two women for a few seconds longer before finally blurting out "What the hell?" He shot Mac a slightly angry look for a moment then turned back to Veronica with a look of utter confusion on his face. "Ronnie?" Veronica smiles and gives him a little wave. Dick still seemed to be processing this revelation and finally decides to give her a tentative hug. "Wow, it's… it's great to see you," although it seems to come out as more of a question than a statement. Standing back closer to Mac he leaned in and whispered to her "You have a lot of explaining to do and you'd better keep her away from you know who."

"Speedy!" Another male voice coming up from directly behind Mac and Dick calls out. This time both Mac's and Dick's eyes grow to the size of saucers as the man gets closer. "See, I told you she wouldn't stand us up Dick." All 3 faces turn to the voice, and Veronica sees the distinctive mask of the Mayor on the man who just spoke. He quickly swept in, wrapping Mac in a big hug.

"Hey did you bring a friend?" The man asks as he realizes there's another woman standing in their vicinity who is also staring at him as he releases his hold on Mac. He shoots a quick look at Veronica and then gives her a slight nod and a friendly little smile before turning back to face more towards Mac and Dick.

Veronica freezes immediately as her brain starts to process that the voice she's hearing actually goes along with the man in the mask that Mac previously identified as the Mayor.

"Thank god for that 2 limit rule we added," he continues on, clearly shifting his attention from Veronica back to the other two. "You-know-who is here and she already drove me nuts having to listen to her drone on for two back to back spots. Hopefully that means I got the most excruciating part of the evening over with already."

This drew a chuckle from both Mac and Dick, perhaps for different reasons, and Dick quickly replied, "Ah, the Mayor's very own personal fan club. I wonder if she'll ever figure out you made them add that rule just because of her."

"Just you wait buddy, the night's still young and if you keep it up, I'll personally go and buy her a spot with you if she hasn't already done it herself. I'm sure Gia would enjoy talking your ear off just as much as any one else's." Turning more towards Mac, "You really should find some guy to set her up with to save all of us other single men from having to suffer her agonizing torment. There must be some guy you have a vendetta against that you could find it within yourself to punish him by hooking him up with her." His expression changes to a pleading pout as he holds his hands up, clasped together as if he's praying for her help.

Mac laughed and shoved his hands back down to his sides, then nervously glanced back at Veronica which draws the attention of both the Mayor and Dick back over to her. Unsure of Mac's reaction, the Mayor seemed to grow concerned that he may have rudely barged in on a conversation that they were already having. "Sorry if I interrupted you all with my tales of suffering and woe." Turning back to Mac he continued on, "are you going to introduce me to your friend, or is that breaking one of the sacred rules of the Masquerade mystery." He dropped his voice to more of a mocking secretive whisper as he mentions the 'sacred rules' part. Before Mac can answer, a voice came over the PA system that the men need to return for dance 6 to begin. His gaze shifts momentarily back to Veronica and his eyes squint for a moment as if he's trying to place who she might be behind her mask before he turns back to Dick.

"Time to get back to work," he chuckled and slapped Dick on the shoulder. "You'd better be dancing with me later Mac," he said as he turned to head back to the front of the room.

Dick shook his head and turned to return to the dance floor as well, but he shoots one last angry glare at Mac before he follows the Mayor through the crowd.

Veronica was still standing there in complete shock. She finally found her voice and blurted out "Logan is the Mayor?" slapping her hand over her mouth and looking around once she realizes how loudly it came out.

"Let's get you a drink," Mac mumbled as she gently grabbed her arm and started walking to the bar area.

"What the…." Veronica started then trailed off as they marched toward the bar. "Am I in some sort of bizarro world? I… I don't understand…" She looks at Mac for an explanation.

Mac again looks sheepish as she replies with the same uncertain response she gave Dick only a few minutes earlier, "Surprise?"

"What?.. How?.. When?..." come stumbling out of Veronica mouth.

Mac ordered them two martinis and handed a glass to Veronica with a sigh. "It's sort of a long story, but yeah, Logan is the Mayor now."

Veronica's initial shock started to wear off, but it was slowly replaced by the fact that Logan either didn't recognize her or intentionally pretended not to. Mac can practically see the gears turning in her head as her expression changes from shocked to confused to calculating.

Her expression finally settled on one of grim determination as she turned to Mac. "Give me your dance ticket with him."

"Um…" Mac stalled for a minute. "I don't know if that's a very good idea Veronica," she replied quietly.

"Mac!" Veronica replied firmer now, "give me the ticket, please."

Mac took a moment to look around the room. Veronica could tell that she was looking for someone to come and rescue her from this situation, but finding no one she finally gives up and turns back to look at Veronica. "Do you promise you won't cause a scene?" Mac asks hesitantly. Veronica gave her a slight glare as Mac regained back a bit more of her confidence and demanded, "Promise or no ticket!"

Veronica sighed and replied, "Fine, I promise I won't cause a scene." Mac lets out a huge sigh and hands the ticket for dance number 8 with Logan to Veronica, gripping it a bit firmly before Veronica finally snatches it out of her fingers. She shook her head and began to worry about how badly this was going to turn out. Not only was she dreading dance 8, but now she was also worrying about how badly dance 7 with Dick was going to go. As if on cue, they announce that dancers for 7 should make their way to the dance floor. Mac is resigned to her fate and says she'll find Veronica after the dances as she makes her way to the dancing area.

Left on her own, Veronica made her way closer to the dance floor so she could get a better view of the room. She quickly found Wallace on the dance floor as well. He makes eye contact with her at one point and she gives him a little wave. He nods his head in recognition, but returns his focus to his dancing partner. She also spotted Dick and Mac, clearly in a heated debate rather than just enjoying a quiet dance. She decides to move out of their line of site so that Mac doesn't try to reclaim the ticket before the next dance starts as it's abundantly clear that Dick is not happy with the situation.

She spotted Logan next with a tall brunette in a low cut shimmery gold ball gown, cozied up and dancing with him. She sees the woman toss her head back laughing at something Logan had just whispered in her ear as they danced together. Veronica's a bit taken back at the feeling of jealousy that suddenly rips through her. She hasn't seen him in all these years, and is caught by surprise that seeing him with another woman would actually bother her. She continued to watch them dance, clearly flirting back and forth and having a great time together on the dance floor. As the song comes to an end, she watches as he takes her hand and places a quick kiss on the back of it before they part and go separate directions.

A moment later, they announced that dance number 8 would be starting. Veronica walked to the front of the dance floor where the men were all waiting for their next set of partners. Wallace noticed her approaching and at first he was happy to see her, but then he realized she wasn't there for him and he grimaced as he realized that she'd probably figured out who the Mayor was and wonders what sort of hurt he's in for later.

"I guess you're lucky number 8." Logan said as she walked up to him holding out her ticket. "Hey you're Mac's friend right?" Veronica nodded with a small smile and handed him the ticket. He glanced down at the ticket and smiled more to himself than her, "Nice to meet you… Miss Honey Ryder." Logan chuckled before continuing, "I see Dick filled out the dance cards for Mac again this time. At least he didn't go with Pussy Galore for this one. I thought Mac was going to clobber him when they had to page her for that dance last year. At least he picked the original Bond Babe this time. Gotta love the classics."

Veronica smiled again and nodded as he reached out and wrapped his left arm around her and the music started. Her breath hitches slightly as he pulls her closer and she can smell his cologne and feel his toned arm firmly wrapping around her waist while he extends his right hand for her to take with her left hand.

He continued talking as they started to slowly dance to the music, "I guess that's what happens though when Mac isn't on time. You'd think she would have learned her lesson after last year." He stopped talking and they danced in silence for a few moments. He was watching her with a polite smile on his face, but there still didn't seem to be any sign of recognition in his eyes. "Not much of a talker, are you?" He said with a smirk and she only shook her head in response and gave him a small tight lipped smile.

Finally after another minute of just silently dancing he spoke again. "You know you sort of remind me of an old friend of mine, well other than the being quiet part." He paused for a minute before continuing, trying to take in her expression, but with the mask it was really hard for him to get a good read. "But she moved to the East Coast and I haven't seen or heard from her in years." They danced a little longer in silence. "Of course you couldn't be her because she'd never go this long without speaking." He chuckled slightly to himself, "She always seemed to have something to say. Always one to voice her opinions, even when they might not be wanted." He danced quietly a bit longer before starting again. "I'm sure she's found some poor guy to torment with her bossy ways by now and is probably married and making his life miserable. She could be quite a battle axe and tenacious as a pit-bull when she thought she was right about something. And whether she really was right or wrong, she always thought she was right. I'm sure you know the type, the '_my way or the high way_' type of girl". Veronica let out a little breath and nodded silently at him, but she was clearly starting to get a little annoyed.

Finally the dance ended. Logan leaned down closer to her ear before releasing her from his hold and she could feel his lips gently graze the edge of her ear and his breath tickled her skin. He whispered to her in the deep seductive voice she still remembered from all those years ago, "Nice to see you Veronica. Thanks for the dance." And with that he turned and walked back to the front of the room to meet his next dance partner.

Veronica stood there for a moment processing all of that before turning and heading back to the bar area. She spotted Mac sitting at a tall table with a full martini in front of her, and another full one off to the side waiting for Veronica.

"And how did that go?" She asked skeptically as Veronica approached her.

"No blood shed at least," Veronica replied as she took a seat next to Mac.

Mac tried her best to read her reaction, but the masks weren't making that very easy to do. She finally gave up and just asked. "So what happened?"

"He was his usual jackass self and gave me crap while pretending he didn't know who I was, but he actually did."

Mac wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but she was thankful that it didn't go worse than that.

"I thought you were the designated driver?" Veronica asked, glancing down at Mac's drink after she realized there was already another empty glass sitting off to the side of her.

"I decided I wanted a few drinks and that we could call a cab, or…." She trailed off without finishing the other option.

"Spill Mac," Veronica replied with a stern look on her face. "I can't imagine any other bigger secrets that you could still be keeping from me, so how bad could it be."

Mac continued on a little tentatively, "Dick always has an after-party on his yacht when the ball is over." She sighed and looked at Veronica to see her response. "I'm sure Wallace and Cora will be hanging out for a while too. We could stay the night on the yacht, or we could just get a cab later if we still aren't fit for driving."

Veronica sat quietly for a few minutes before she finally spoke again. "I didn't realize you were such good friends with Dick and Logan."

Mac proceeded a bit reluctantly, "You knew I was doing consulting work for Dick though, I've told you that before. You also were the one that gave us all the impression that you didn't really want to discuss Logan after you left, so we just didn't bring him up after getting shut down a few times by you. Though I did tell you I was doing consulting for the Mayor's office too."

"What's with the 'Speedy' nickname?" she finally asked after looking a bit annoyed and taking a few drinks of her martini.

"I guess they started calling me that a couple years ago," Mac replied thoughtfully. "It started because they were teasing me about how quickly I would fix all their tech problems and somehow they both started doing it and it just stuck I guess."

Veronica gave her a slight grimaced smile and then returned to downing the rest of her martini.

Mac finally focused her attention back to the dance area as song number 9 finished and they announced that they were taking another short break before starting with 10. She looked around for Dick and Logan and saw Dick headed their way. She looked around for Logan and spotted him in a some what heated discussion with one of the ladies who helps coordinate the night. "This can't be good," she mumbled quietly to herself.


	4. Chapter 4 - Gentleman's Choice

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 4– Gentleman's Choice

After leaving the dance floor, Dick stopped by the bar to get a drink before he joined the two ladies at their table. He was still clearly thrown off with Veronica being there and cautiously sat in the chair closest to Mac and farthest from her. Veronica was also unsettled by whatever might be going on between Dick and Mac, so to avoid any unpleasant topics, the three of them just sat quietly and sipped on their drinks.

Veronica was relieved when the awkwardness was broken for a few minutes as Wallace came by the table to say hi to them all. He shook Dick's hand and then shot a slightly concerned look at Veronica when he noticed her troubled expression. He complimented both ladies on their beautiful dresses before excusing himself to get a drink and find Cora. Veronica could sense his apprehension about the situation and vowed to herself to get after him later for keeping things from her in addition to leaving her alone with them.

Logan seemed to suddenly appear from no where all of a sudden, carrying two new martinis which he placed in front of the ladies. After setting the drinks down, he sat in the empty seat next to Veronica and smiled at the obvious tension on the faces of the three of them. "Having fun?" he asked, directed more toward Veronica, than the other two at the table. She gave him a slight nod and small smile before taking a drink. He laughed, getting a questioning look from Veronica. Even with masks on, he could still tell by her high arched brow that she was questioning whatever it was that he found to be so funny. "I'm still not quite convinced you could be Veronica Mars, since I've never known her to go so long without saying a word. I'm not even sure her silent treatment was ever quite this pleasantly silent." She rolled her eyes at him and took another drink. Mac and Dick watched the scene play out, but neither were brave enough to interject anything into the conversation.

"Although there are lots of benefits of you not talking as well," He continued on thoughtfully with a playful smirk forming on his lips. She started to glare at him before he continued, "such as not being able to protest or complain."

At that moment another announcement came over the PA. "We've been asked to add a new dance to tonight's event. The next dance will be a Gentleman's choice, where our gracious volunteers get to pick the partner they would like to dance with and for each lady who agrees, an anonymous donor will be donating an extra $400 to the funds for the night."

Logan stood and reached his hand out to Veronica. "Will you please do me the honor of dancing with me?" She hesitated for a moment and he leaned in and added, "don't forget it's for a good cause." She reluctantly took his hand and let him lead her back to the dance floor.

This time as he held his right hand out for her to hold, once she placed her hand into his he clasped his hand gently around it and brought both their hands back up to his chest in a much more intimate way than before. He smiled down as they start to dance.

"I hope you'll actually talk to me this time, or this is going to turn out to be a very expensive form of silent therapy." She smiled a little bit more at him, her tense posture starting to relax. "Not to mention it's really hard to play charades while we dance," he added seeing that she might be warming up a bit more to him.

"Let's start with an easy question then shall we?" He asked playfully. "When did you get back into town?"

"Friday morning," she answered, finally breaking the silence for him. His smile grew even larger, thankful to finally hear her voice.

"See that's not so hard right?" He teased her as he thought back for a moment. "Well that explains some things at least." She raised her eyebrow in question again, so he continued to explain, "Well Wallace was acting rather strange at the poker game on Thursday night and then yesterday when Mac stopped in to do some work, she also seemed like something was up but I couldn't get either of them to tell me what was going on with them."

"I didn't expect you to steal my friends when I moved away." She added in a bit of an annoyed tone.

"Well I didn't see 'property of Veronica Mars' stamped on their foreheads after you left, so I didn't realize it would be an issue," he replied with mock seriousness. "I forgot that you were never very good at sharing your toys though," he added with a bit of a smirk. He thought for another moment then continued on a bit more mischievously, "oh, and I did leave Piz for you, so I didn't steal them all."

He noticed that she clenched her jaw at his last comment, and he momentarily regretted bringing up Piz. He decided it might be safer to quickly change the topic. "How long are you back in town for?"

She hesitated before answering, "I'm not really sure yet."

He stayed silent for a moment contemplating her answer. "Did something happen at the DA's office Veronica?" he finally asked with a look of concern on his face.

She was a little surprised that he knew where she was working. She sighed and didn't give him an answer to his question. He could immediately tell by the change in her posture that she didn't want to talk about it so he decided not to push her and moved on after a few moments of silence.

"Did Dillon come with you to Neptune as well? I know Keith's birthday is coming up, so I guess I'm not surprised that you would come back for a big birthday bash. It's his 50th this year right?"

The fact that he knew about Dillon, as well as her Dad's 50th birthday, surprised her even more than his question about the DA's Office. "How do you know all of that?" she blurted out a bit more abruptly than she intended, then she shook her head, realizing that it didn't actually take much detective work to figure out how he would know.

"Just because you may not have cared to keep in touch with what was going on with me, doesn't mean that I didn't care about what was going on with you Veronica." He said softly.

Immediately after her comment, she realized she shouldn't have been surprised given how close he seemed to be to Mac, and maybe even Wallace. She had never told them that they couldn't share information about her life with him, so while she may not have wanted to know what was going on with him to make it easier for her when she left, she had just assumed that he would do the same.

"And you know, I don't think you can really hold stealing Mac entirely against me, what with her and Dick being engaged now and him being my best friend, it was only inevitable that we would become good friends too."

Veronica's mouth fell open and a look of utter shock spread across her face.

"Shit, they didn't tell you that yet did they?" Logan's expression quickly changed to one of guilt and he took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling for a moment. "Technically, they've only been engaged for a couple weeks now, and I guess they were sort of keeping it quiet until after the fundraiser was over due to the single status unofficial rule. I'd told them it wasn't really a big deal though for the fundraiser and it's all in fun anyway to raise money for the kids. No one would actually care if Dick was engaged since it's just dancing. It's not like he would have been the first engaged guy volunteering either. I'm really sorry Veronica, I thought she would have told you already." He seemed to be babbling, not quite sure how to recover from letting that little secret out of the bag before Mac was ready to share it with her.

"I didn't notice a ring though?" Veronica finally said obviously in disbelief. She was grasping at straws to try to convince herself that it couldn't be true. She hadn't even let herself believe they were actually dating, preferring to think of them as just really good friends at this point. That illusion was completely shattered now.

"Yeah, I think she wore the ring for the first two weeks, then decided it was too loose and she was worried she was going to lose it, so they took it back in to get it resized and it must still be at the jewelers."

They returned to dancing in silence for a while. Logan was frustrated that he had finally gotten her to start talking to him, and then he unintentionally dropped a big bombshell on her. He decided he'd better try to salvage the rest of their limited time together, worried that the song was probably going to be over soon. "It really is great to see you again. And if I didn't say it before, you really do look gorgeous tonight."

She smiled at his compliment and started to relax a bit more though he could still tell his news about Dick and Mac had really bothered her.

"I think Mac has another spot with me later, will you dance with me again?" he asked with a hopeful tone in his voice, then he worried that it came out sounding a bit too desperate, so he quickly added, "at least I saw a Xenia Onatopp on the list, and figured that was another one of Dick's aliases."

"We'll see." She replied with a shy smile after laughing at the other Bond alias.

As the dance came to an end he held her for a moment longer, then carefully tilted his head so he could place a kiss on her forehead above her mask. "Welcome home Bobcat," he said softly before stepping away. He gave her one last smile before he headed towards the front of the room where they would wait to meet their dance partners.

Veronica smiled as she turned to walk back towards their table near the bar. As she reached the edge of the dance floor, she paused for a moment to look back over her shoulder one last time and cringed as she saw the tall gorgeous brunette in the gold dress once again approaching Logan for the next dance. She hadn't realized it before but their masks were really similar, both having similar red and gold designs on them. They definitely seemed to be familiar with each other by the ease at which they danced and talked. They were still whispering things back and forth and laughing at whatever they were sharing as they moved out on the floor for the next dance. Veronica cursed at her self for actually caring. She most definitely had not come back to Neptune to see him since she actually didn't even realize he was still in town, let alone the Mayor. Even if some little part of her was curious to check up on him when she first decided to come back, the rational part tried to convince her that what they had was in the past and to just let it go.

Veronica was happy to see that the table they had been sitting at before was still open, so she sat down to wait for Mac to finish up her dance with Dick. She hated to admit that at first she was sort of impressed that Logan had devised the whole "Gentlemen's Choice" dance so he could dance with her again. It was too big of a coincidence for an anonymous donor to suddenly request the dance along with his comment to her when they started for it not to be him that set it up. But now she was conflicted because he certainly seemed to be enjoying his time with the leggy brunette. She decided she was being ridiculous and tried to just let it go and push those types of thoughts of him out of her head.

Mac appeared back at the table after song 10 ended and 11 started. "How are you doing champ?" she asked as she took a seat across from Veronica and gave her a guilty smile. "I bumped into Logan on my way off the dance floor and he let me know he accidentally shared my big news with you." Once again, Mac sheepishly said "surprise?" though the forced excitement as she said it was getting weaker with each time she had used it throughout the night.

Veronica gave her a slightly annoyed look and said with a sigh. "I'm getting a bit tired of surprises tonight."

"I'm really sorry I didn't tell you. I was trying to figure out how to bring up just the fact that we've been dating for a while first, before jumping into the whole 'hey guess what I'm engaged' part of the story. I know you were never much of a fan of his when you lived here, but you've been gone 8 years now and we've all changed a lot. I know I should have told you a long time ago that we had gotten involved, but I guess I was worried about your reaction."

Veronica sighed and looked a bit glum before finally replying, "I know, it's not your fault that I tried to avoid most everything about this place for all these years. I don't know what I expected." She paused for a moment before continuing, "Of course time wasn't just going to stand still here while I was gone."

Veronica caught a flash of gold out of the corner of her eye again, and noticed the leggy brunette ordering a drink at the bar. Once she had her drink, the tall attractive woman turned back toward their table and Veronica caught her giving a little wave to Mac before she headed back to the other side of the room.

Veronica raised her eyebrow in a questioning gaze at Mac, "Friend of yours?"

Mac looked a bit disgusted and shook her head slightly. "Not really, more of a work acquaintance I guess you would say."

"Hm…" Veronica pondered, "well she looked pretty friendly out on the dance floor with the Mayor earlier."

Mac smiled smugly at Veronica noticing the slight note of jealousy in her tone and the use of Logan's title rather than his name. It wasn't too hard to guess what was going through her friend's mind. "Her name is Alexis Calloway. She's the president of the Chamber of Commerce and I've done some consulting work for them too." She hesitated obviously having an internal debate about whether to say more or leave it at that.

Veronica picked up on her hesitation, "and…?"

Mac thought for a minute before continuing on. Of course if Veronica really wanted to know who she was she'd likely just Google her or look her up in one of her PI databases when she got home, so there wasn't much point in keeping it from her. She knew she was already in trouble for not mentioning that Logan was the Mayor and that she was engaged to Dick, so maybe being honest now could win back some friendship points. Although whether this was the venue to bring it up or just let her find out later was still debatable.

Veronica grew impatient and started tapping her finger on the table. Mac let out a sigh and finally answered, "She's the Mayor's ex-fiancé."

Veronica stopped tapping and stared at Mac. "As in the current Mayor, or the prior one?" Not that she knew who the prior Mayor may have been and not that it would really matter, but she just couldn't actually imagine Logan being engaged to someone. "And please don't say 'surprise' again!" Veronica snapped at the end.

Mac shrugged and looked around the room trying to find a new distraction.

After dance 11 ended, they announced another short break and the dance floor started to clear out again. There were still 4 dances to go and Veronica realized she should check to see if Wallace had any spots left. She spotted him across the room with Cora, and let Mac know she was heading over to talk with him.

As she crossed the room, she caught sight of Logan and Alexis chatting closely together again. For exes, they were awfully friendly she thought to herself. Although there had been times in the past when he and she had been that way too. And with all their on again, off again history, she could easily see a definite pattern with Logan not giving up on someone he was really interested in. She couldn't help but wonder if that was the case with Alexis now. She may be his ex-fiancé, but was that just temporary until they worked through whatever issue had ended the engagement in the first place.

"How you doin' Superfly?" Wallace asked as she reached the two of them.

She narrowed her eyes at him with a grim expression. "Please don't tell me you have some other big surprise that you've neglected to share?"

He shook his head as he chuckled slightly. Cora gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Lots of things change when you've been gone for 8 years," he said with a reluctant smile. "Maybe if you would have come back to visit a bit more often, there would be less surprises for you now." He reached his arm across her shoulder for a gentle half hug. "You know I still love ya though, right sis?"

She smiled at him and leaned into his side. They stood and chatted for a few minutes about his various dance partners. He let her know that the rest of his dance spots were already filled up as well. Wallace was obviously trying to avoid the subjects of both Logan being there and Mac's impending nuptials as they talked. Veronica decided she could get after him later for keeping all of that from her, rather than here at the ball.

A few people Wallace knew greeted him in passing and he introduced Veronica to a few of the people that were also teachers at the high school. She had successfully distracted herself enough that she was starting to relax a bit more and joked around with Wallace and Cora. Soon the break was over and the voice over the PA announced that they would be starting dance 12 in a few minutes.

Veronica felt an arm circle her waist. "Hey there, Miss Onatopp," Logan joked as he flashed the dance ticket in front of her face. "Give me the honor of one more dance?"

She sighed but reluctantly let him drag her back to the dance floor. He resumed their prior position, with one arm around her waist and the other holding her hand closely against his chest. He seemed to be getting a bit bolder this time though, and she noticed he wasn't just holding her hand, but rubbing his thumb in small circles along the back of her hand. She wondered if he'd had a chat with Mac while she was off with Wallace and found out that Dillon was no longer in the picture, or if he was just absent-mindedly doing it without even realizing it.

"Are you and Mac going to come down to Dick's yacht when the fundraiser is over?" He asked as they danced in slow circles to the rhythm of the music. "I know he was never your favorite person before, but you really should give him a chance for Mac's sake. He grew up a lot after you left and Mac certainly helped get him in line. Even though they might have seemed like such an unlikely couple, they really fit well together now."

She smiled and shrugged, "Maybe we will. At least for a little while. Wallace said he and Cora would be there too."

"That's great," He replied then after a moment he sighed and added, "I don't want to make you uncomfortable Veronica, so if you'd rather not have me there, I'll understand. I really do want you to have a good visit, and I would love to be able to spend time with you, but I don't want to make you feel awkward either. I get the feeling that you weren't expecting to run into me tonight, and I don't want to ruin the rest of your night if you'd rather just spend it with them."

She let out a little huff of air that was a mix between a laugh and a sigh. "Look Logan, we're both mature adults now. I'm sure we can be civil to each other and spend time together with our friends without it being an issue. We've been able to get through two and a half songs without any trouble right?"

He gave her a little smile and nodded, keeping his eyes locked on hers. She quickly became a bit overwhelmed by his heated gaze and turned her head way from him, looking to the side as they continued to dance.

"Mac said you and Dillon are over?" Logan finally asked softly. She didn't answer but did nod her head. "I'm sorry, Mac said you'd been together for quite some time, I'm sure that was hard." She replied with a soft thanks.

After a minute of just dancing in silence, he finally spoke again. "I'd really love to hear all about your job and what else you've been up to these past few years. Can I take you to dinner tomorrow night?"

"Sorry, I'm supposed to join Mac and Lauren for a family dinner at the Sinclair's. Won't that be beyond strange," she said with a small laugh.

"How about Monday night then?"

She shook her head again, "Sorry I already have dinner plans for Monday too."

He narrowed his eyes at her and gave her a skeptical look, "You're not just trying to avoid me now are you?"

She didn't answer, but gave him a little shrug and a smirk, and turned her head back to the side.

He chuckled softly and squeezed her a little closer as they continued dancing in silence.

With the lack of conversation, and the effect of several drinks, her mind started over analyzing everything. While it felt great being in his arms and dancing, she quickly flashed to his obvious chemistry with Alexis and how she definitely didn't have that with him now. Eight years is a long time to be away from someone and so many things were different now. She started feeling a bit depressed to think about how the rest of them were all close friends now, with their own little jokes and nicknames, and how she had become the outsider again. For a second she felt a slight panic attack, thinking how this was almost like it was in high school after Lilly died and all her friends abandoned her. She tried to clear that from her mind and convinced herself that she was being ridiculous and that she'd just had a few too many unwelcome surprises tonight.

She'd gotten so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize the music had stopped, until she heard Logan asking if she was OK. He gave her a concerned look as he dropped his arm from around her waist, but he was still holding her hand on his chest. She smiled and nodded. He reached up with his free hand and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. Such a familiar feeling and she felt her heart rate speed up and her breath hitch again for a second.

"Thanks again for dancing with me tonight," He said with a smile. "I'll see you later on the yacht." He stood still holding her hand for another second before giving her a little wink and turning back toward his designated meeting spot.


	5. Chapter 5 - Yacht Party

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 5 – Yacht Party

Since both Mac and Veronica were done with their dances for the evening, and Mac could tell Veronica's mood seemed to be turning a bit melancholy after returning from the dance floor, she suggested they head down and just wait for the others at the Yacht. She thought a short walk out in the brisk evening air might help get her friend back in a better mood. She could also give her a grand tour of the yacht before other people started heading down from the fundraiser.

After retrieving their purses from the coat check, they headed out toward the docks where the yachts were moored.

"I really am sorry I didn't tell you earlier about me and Dick," Mac said as they started to head toward the yacht.

Veronica sighed and gave her an understanding smile, "I understand, well at least why you were hesitant to tell me, not necessarily how it happened. That I definitely don't understand."

Mac chuckled before replying, "Yeah, 8 years ago, I wouldn't have expected it either."

Mac started to explain how they would occasionally bump into each other at Hearst at various parties and that she had also kept working with Logan on their website and would run into him with Logan quite often.

"I noticed that after his dad went away to serve his prison time, something seemed to shift in his attitude and all of a sudden he was more serious about school. He was taking a programming class, and had asked me if I would help him with a few assignments. We ended up spending more and more time together, and before I knew it we had actually grown really fond of each other." Veronica couldn't help but notice the wistful expression that had grown on Mac's face as she continued to talk about him.

"We sort of cooled things off though when I went up to San Francisco to work, and I was surprised at how much I missed him. He was opening his own place when I first came back and he asked me to help him set up all of the electronic aspects of it. So we ended up spending a lot of time alone together as we did that, and pretty quickly picked up where we had left off before I moved away."

She went on to explain how he had decided to combine the two things he loved most, surfing and partying, and came up with what became known as Growlers. He had the place custom built at the beach, with the downstairs being a surf shop and café for daytime customers and upstairs was a night club that overlooked the ocean.

As they reached the yacht, Mac added, "I'm not going to say he still doesn't have his moments of being the old obnoxious Dick, but they are certainly fewer and farther between."

As they approached the yacht, a man came down the entry way to greet them.

"Veronica this is Frederick, he's one of the staff that helps us with the yacht when we have parties or take it out in the ocean. Thanks for getting everything set up for us tonight, Frederick."

He gave her a warm greeting, then said he'd be back the next day to help clean and lock everything up. She thanked him once again before he headed up the way they had come from the Yacht Club.

"Well let's give you the grand tour, shall we?" Mac said in a cheerful voice.

Veronica's eyes grew wide when she realized just how big the yacht actually was. It was at least 3 times the size of her apartment in Massachusetts and was amazingly luxurious. She wasn't terribly surprised that Dick would own something like it, although she was surprised at how at ease Mac seemed to be with it all. Mac gave her a full tour including the 4 guest cabins on the lowest level, the master bedroom on the main level, and all the entertaining areas. There was a hot tub on one of the upper outdoor decks, as well as lots of lounge areas on two other decks.

Mac laughed a bit at Veronica's reaction, "I know, I know… not exactly modest is it? But it really is a lot of fun," she added with a sheepish grin.

"Like I said before, you're welcome to stay the night here in one of the guest cabins. I wish I'd been honest with you beforehand so you could have brought some extra clothes along if you wanted to stay. But I do have several shorts and shirts that you're welcome to borrow. I think there may even be several new swimsuits if you wanted to use the hot tub. We've gone sailing down to Mexico several times, and I always find cute suits when we are shopping and they end up on the boat and then I never quite catch up to wearing them all or taking them home."

Veronica agreed to at least check out what she had so she could change out of her ball gown since Mac said the other guests would likely all be changing too. They were able to find a new bikini set that fit Veronica perfectly and a pair of shorts and a tank top to wear over the top of it. Luckily they also wore the same size of shoes, so she was able to borrow a pair of flip flops too. Veronica took some other items down to one of the guest cabins to have for the morning if she ended up staying the night. She laid her dress out across the bed in one of the guest cabins to keep it from getting all wrinkled and so other guests would hopefully leave that room for her.

They headed to the bar area to get some drinks to enjoy while they waited for the other guests to arrive. Frederick had set out a buffet with various appetizers and snacks for everyone, and Veronica didn't hesitate to dig in when Mac offered her a plate.

They were relaxing on the deck by the hot tub when they heard voices approaching. Dick was the first one to come up and join them on the upper deck. He was still in his tux, although he had taken his jacket and bow tie off, and the first few buttons of his dress shirt were undone as well. He collapsed on the chaise lounge that Mac was lying on and wrapped his arm around her, burying his head against her neck and whined about how exhausted he was.

"Poor baby!" Mac teased back, "I'm sure it was such hard work dancing with all those hot ladies."

Veronica watched them as she tousled his hair and he reached up and gave her a fairly deep kiss. She still couldn't quite wrap her head around them being together and let out an uncomfortable laugh.

He sighed and buried his face back against her neck as Mac broke away from his kiss to smile at Veronica. "Why don't you go change into something more comfortable," she said and shoved him off of her playfully.

They could hear other voices from down below and doors closing as other guests who had obviously been on the yacht before went into the cabins to change out of their formal wear. As Dick left the deck, he stopped at a console that had one of the control panels for the sound system, and started some music that played throughout most of the yacht and then disappeared down the stairs.

They could still hear several voices down on the level below them where the bar and buffet were set up. Wallace and Cora soon joined them, both having changed, and wandered over to get into the Hot Tub before it filled up with other people. Veronica moved over to a lounge chair closer to them so she was able to chat with them while they enjoyed the water.

Dick soon returned, having changed into shorts and a tank top and asked Veronica and Mac if he could refill their drinks for them. "Well I will say you've got him well trained to wait on you," Veronica teased Mac as he disappeared back down to the main level with their empty glasses.

He came back up a few minutes later with their drinks and a beer for himself, followed by another couple who he introduced as, Mark, the manager that ran his Surf Shop and his girl friend, Allie. They were dressed in comfortable clothes as well, and sat over on one of the other large lounge chairs across the deck from Veronica and Mac. Dick gave Mac a quick peck on the lips before tearing off his tank top and tossing it at her as he climbed into the hot tub with Wallace and Cora.

Soon a few other people joined them, including a guy named Steve, who was a fireman and another guy named Brad who worked at one of the banks in town. They had both volunteered for the dance and started chatting with Veronica to get to know her. She felt as if they were both trying to out do each other with their charm, which was at least providing her with some entertainment.

Logan finally joined the group on the deck with a bottle of water in his hand. He gave her a quick smile and then took off is tank top to join the others in the tub. Veronica couldn't help but notice that his body had certainly changed in the 8 years since she had left. He was much more chiseled now than he had been his freshman year of College. She couldn't help think to herself, maybe those weight lifting classes weren't such a waste of time after all.

She was also thankful that he didn't bring Alexis or another woman along with him. She wasn't ready to ask outright if he was currently involved with anyone, as that would require her admitting that she might be interested in him again. She also couldn't help but notice that she hadn't actually seen him drink any alcohol at all this evening and even now instead of having a beer with Wallace and Dick, he was sticking to just water.

Brad finally seemed to tire of the friendly little get-to-know-Veronica competition with Steve, and joined the others in the hot tub too. Steve was quite a chatty guy, and even though Veronica couldn't help but let her gaze drift to Logan a few times in the hot tub, she still tried to be polite and kept talking with Steve.

Most of the guys had started comparing stories to determine who had the worst dance of the night. Someone reminded them that Gia couldn't be used anymore, which drew chuckles from some of the guests. Several of them had some pretty funny stories to share, with a few crushed toes and some grabby hands. They also seemed to have a side competition going as to who got the most phone numbers, though Wallace and Dick both clearly said they hadn't actually kept any of the ones they were offered.

After 45 minutes or so, Veronica excused herself to head down stairs to use a bathroom. She ended up going all the way down to the bottom level since the one she had spotted on the middle level was occupied and she knew there was another one in the hall on the guest cabin level. When she came out and started back toward the stairs, someone grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into one of the guest rooms and closed the door behind her.

Logan stood there in front of her, smiling seductively at her. He was studying her face carefully and gently reached up and pushed some loose hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry," he finally said, "I just really wanted a few minutes alone with you. It's so nice to see your face not hidden behind the mask at the ball." He tenderly took the hand that had brushed her hair way and traced it across her forehead. "You're new friend upstairs was keeping you pretty occupied, so I thought I'd sneak down so I could have a minute to say hi, before you went back to the rest of the group."

She smiled up at him and coyly said "hi". She could easily tell that he wanted to do more than just say hello, but he was acting like a gentleman and just stood there gazing back at her. He was still shirtless from being in the hot tub, and his still damp shorts clung to his body. She couldn't resist reaching out and running her hand up his chest. As soon as her hand touched him, he let out a deep sigh, and leaned in closer to her, his forehead gently resting against hers.

"You have no idea how badly I want to kiss you Veronica," he quietly said in a deep lust filled tone.

Her heart was racing and she could feel her stomach clenching with uncertainty of what to do. She had to admit that she couldn't help thinking about kissing him either, especially after watching him for the last 45 minutes in and out of the hot tub. A part of her was telling her this was a really bad idea, while another part was screaming to just have her way with him there in the guest cabin.

Unfortunately the logical part of her brain was currently winning the battle, but she was still having a really hard time coming up with a strong argument against pushing him down on the bed that was only a mere two feet behind them. She went with a weak excuse though to at least try to resist him, "Logan, I'm not sure this is such a good idea given our history."

"It's just a kiss Veronica, what harm can come from a kiss," he replied softly with a smirk, gently rubbing his nose against hers.

She could feel her willpower crumbling away every second that his breath tickled her face. Her breath was coming faster now as she stood there with her back against the door. She also still had her hand resting on his chest, slowly rubbing the toned tanned muscles with her fingers. Not really a convincing set of physical evidence to go along with her argument.

"Just a kiss?" She finally asked back sounding breathless as she spoke.

He slowly nodded his head and as she smiled back, he pressed his lips against hers. He started out softly, but it soon turned extremely passionate and the next thing she knew, he was pressed firmly up against her, lifting her up by her waist to get a better angle. She couldn't help wrapping her legs around his waist as he lifted her and then she put her arms around his shoulders pulling him closer to her, one hand moving passionately through his hair. He shifted his hands from her waist to under her thighs to keep her higher against his body, still firmly pressing her up against the door. He grabbed her tightly and then spun them around to the bed, laying her down slowly and resting his body down next to hers so he didn't crush her but was able to carefully lean over her as they continued to kiss. He broke away from her lips and started kissing down her neck, planting several below her ear, then moving farther down her neck toward her collarbone.

Her breath was coming in faster gasps now, as she struggled to think rationally. She didn't want him to stop, but she knew deep down this wasn't a good idea. She finally took a deep breath and tried to get herself under control again.

"Whoa there Mr. Mayor, I think this is turning into more than just a kiss. Is this how you win over all your constituents?"

He stopped attacking her neck, chuckled softly, then replied, "Only the short hot blonde ones." He then rolled over on his back pulling her along with him so that she was lying on his chest. He gently reached up and pushed some of her hair behind her ear so he could see her more clearly. She could feel his heart racing just as fast as her own underneath her hand which was resting on his firm chiseled chest.

She finally sighed and spoke again, "I don't want to give you the wrong idea Logan. We've tried this dance way too many times and it never works out. I can't see this ending well for either of us in the end."

His expression changed from blissful to a bit annoyed, but he still tried to speak in a calming voice, "Come on Veronica, that was 8 years ago. I don't think either of us is the same person we used to be. I don't think you can say with certainty that it wouldn't work out until we get to know each other again." He smiled up at her again and brushed his hand softly over her hair.

"So if neither of us is the same person we use to be, then we are basically just two strangers hooking up for a good time?" She asked, intending it to be a joke, although as it came out of her mouth, she immediately questioned if that was a wise thing to say and it didn't come out as humorously as she intended.

"I can work with that," he replied in an aggressively playful tone, and flipped them over again so she was pinned below him as his mouth pressed against hers.

While her brain again tried to scream that this was a bad idea, her body just didn't get the message. She eagerly opened her mouth and met his kiss with as much passion as he was pouring into his. She couldn't help herself as her hips pressed up against his and her hands went back to ravaging through his hair and along the firm muscles of his back, sinking lower to the edge of his still damp swim trunks. She knew she would regret this later, and maybe she could try to blame it on one too many drinks, although she knew that wasn't the case. She just really wanted to have this new Logan Echolls even if it was just this one time.

Her breath was coming out in heavy pants again, as was his. "Seriously Logan," she finally panted out between moans as he went back to ravaging kisses along her neck, "This isn't going to mean anything…. I'm not making you any promises… do you really still want to do this?"

"Hell yes," he said breathlessly as one of his hands slipped under the edge of her tank top and up across the bare skin of her stomach, finally resting on her breast as he slowly began to massage her there.

She knew she was too far gone at that point to try any other convincing argument. She gave it one last try though mixed in with a little high school humor, "You know," she purred seductively, "the rules are still the same, no glove no love."

He briefly stopped what he was doing and laughed. "God it's good to have you back again Veronica," he said as he jumped off the bed, locked the door, reached into his duffle bag that was conveniently located in this particular guest room and flashed a foil packet at her, before pouncing back on the bed at her.

In those few moments when he was physically apart from her, she thought she could summon up the willpower to stop him again, but as soon as he was on the bed with his body pressed against hers, whatever thoughts she had quickly disappeared to be replaced by only a burning desire to devour every inch of him.

The next 30 minutes or so were better than she ever remembered it being with him before. When they finally broke apart, both laying on their backs completely fulfilled and exhausted trying to catch their breath, she suddenly remembered they weren't the only ones on the yacht. As the high of having sex with him slowly wore off, she was mortified at the thought that she would have to go out and face other people who would certainly be able to figure out what they had been doing.

"Oh my god, what did we just do?" She said with a trembling panicked voice.

Logan chuckled, "wow, that's definitely a confidence booster if I've ever heard one. I mean, I really thought you paid better attention than that in all those sex-ed classes we had to take in high school. With all the moaning you were doing, I really don't think I was doing it wrong."

She playfully smacked his chest. "That's not what I meant. I meant how am I going to face Mac and Wallace, and all those other people upstairs. This is clearly all your fault."

"Calm down there Bobcat," He said grasping the hand that she'd smacked him with and bringing it up to his mouth for a kiss. "I'm sure they'll buy that we just lost track of time talking and catching up with each other." He shifted to his side so he could look at her again. "Although you should make sure that you don't take the tank top off, or they might notice that little love bite I left there above your right breast."

She quickly looked down, then smacked him in the chest again. "You're such a pain in the ass!" she cried as she jumped off the bed to recover her clothes.

He was able to quickly swat her on the ass before she got away from him, teasing "I'd gladly be a pain to that amazing ass anytime you let me."

She found his shorts and tossed them at him as she finished putting her own clothes back on. There was a small bathroom attached to this guest cabin and he went in to clean up before putting his shorts back on. She followed him in so she could fix her hair in the mirror to try to make it look like they hadn't been doing what they were actually doing. She was also checking to see that the tank top sufficiently covered the bite mark he'd left.

He smirked at her as she was checking the mark, which further annoyed her. "What am I going to tell my hot date on Monday night if he sees it?" She playfully asked.

His smirk quickly changed to a disgruntled expression, as he rolled his eyes at her. "So when do I get my chance to woo you with a fancy dinner and riveting conversation?"

She shrugged and gave him a clueless expression, before she turned and headed out toward the hall. She was trying to formulate a plan that might keep the others from being suspicious about what they'd been doing for the last half hour. She poked her head out and was glad that no one else was roaming around on this level. It was a huge yacht anyway, and she hoped that might work to her advantage. She really didn't want to have to discuss this with anyone if she didn't have to.

"Come on," she said to him in a quiet sneaky voice. He rolled his eyes, but wasn't going to argue with her. He was curious to see what she was up to anyway.

There were two sets of stairs that led down to the bottom level, so she pulled him toward the set that was farthest from where the other guests had been. He knew that those stairs led up to the control room which would connect into the kitchen and storage pantry.

While he wasn't at all embarrassed about what had happened, he decided he should be chivalrous about it and go along with what she wanted. When they reached the control room, he took the lead, and slowly opened the door to the kitchen. No one was in the kitchen, but before heading out to the dining room, he opened the freezer and grabbed a pint of ice cream and two spoons, giving Veronica a little wink. They went out to the dining area and not seeing any other guests in the immediate area, he sat down on one of the small couches by where the buffet had been set up and patted the seat next to him for her to sit down too.

"Tell me about Massachusetts?" he asked as he opened the ice cream and handed her a spoon. She smiled in appreciation, and took a bite of the ice cream and started telling him a bit about what it was like living there and working in the DA's office. She left out details about why she was suspended though, and also stayed away from the topic of Dillon. When they were part way through the pint, Mac had wandered down to get a bottle of water and saw them sitting and talking.

"I wondered where you two had gotten off too," she said with a smile. "I see Logan helped you find Dick's secret stash of ice cream. I should have known you'd try to sniff it out. Quite a few of the guests just left, and Wallace, Cora, Dick and I were going to come in and watch a movie. Did you decide if you want to stay the night? Wallace and Cora are going to stay over in one of the guest cabins, but there are 4 down there, so there's plenty of room for you too if you want to stay."

"Sure, that sounds like fun," Veronica replied with a smile.

"How about you Mr. Mayor? You want to join us too, or are you in a hurry to head back to your big lonely mansion?"

"And miss out on all this fun?" He said with a grin.

Wallace and Cora came in behind Mac, and Wallace immediately complained about not getting ice cream too. Mac shook her head at Veronica and Logan and said, "See what you started! You should have been sneakier and hid out in the control room until it was gone!" She told Wallace she'd go see if they had any more and to have Dick get the movie ready to go. She returned a short while later with 4 bowls of ice cream handing them off to Wallace, Cora and Dick, as she snuggled up to Dick and they started the movie.

Veronica was glad that the lights were now off and that it had been fairly dim earlier when they were first discovered, because she was pretty sure she could feel her face itching a bit where Logan's stubble had rubbed her a bit too hard. She gave him a little smile as she stretched out a few inches away from him to watch the movie.

When the movie was over, Dick and Mac said good night and headed back to the master suite on the main level. Wallace and Cora headed down stairs to the lower level ahead of Logan and Veronica. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Wallace and Cora said good night and headed into the cabin at the far end of the hall. Logan stood in front of his door and as Wallace closed theirs, he reached out and grabbed Veronica around the waist and pulled her closer.

"Want to be my bunk mate tonight?" He said in a low seductive voice as he brushed his lips lightly along her ear.

She felt a shiver race through her body, but was able to muster up enough will power to think logically this time. "I think I've risked enough potential embarrassment tonight as it is."

His expression changed to a pout, but he didn't let it bother him for long. "Well then, sweet dreams," he said as he gently kissed her forehead. "I know mine will certainly be."

He dropped his arms from her waist and watched her as she backed across the hall to the guest room she'd left her dress in.

"I'm not giving up on getting you to go on a date with me either," he said with a smile as he watched her turn to reach for the handle. She gave him one last glance over her shoulder before she opened the door and went in, closing it behind her.


	6. Chapter 6 - Morning After

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 6 – Morning After

In the morning, the sound of Logan's door opening and closing across the hall, stirred Veronica from her sleep. She kept still for a moment, waiting to see if he'd knock on her door, or even try to just sneak in. Her mind quickly jumped to flashbacks of their encounter the night before. Occasionally during her 8 years away, he would end up being the subject of her fantasies, but nothing could ever exceed the rush she felt finally being with him again. For those fleeting moments last night, she let herself forget everything else in her life and just savored the feel of him again. Who knew Logan Echolls would be like a fine, fine wine and get even better with age.

After a few minutes passed, she decided he must have headed up to the main level and she let out a deep exhale of breath as a bit of disappointment washed over her. Her head was pounding from all the drinks the night before and so she dragged herself out of bed to go in search of some aspirin and coffee. She glanced at the other outfits that Mac had loaned her, and put on another bikini, this one with a fuller halter top that did a better job of entirely covering the mark Logan had made. She gently traced over the mark he had left, remembering the feel of his mouth and teeth there when he had made it. She shook her head when she realized what an effect being with him was having on her and she continued on with her task of getting dressed. She added a floral sarong skirt that went nicely with the fuchsia colored bikini, taking one more moment to rub her fingers over the only trace of Logan that still remained on her body before she adjusted the bikini top to fully cover it.

She headed up stairs to find everyone else already sitting around the large dining table, chatting and enjoying breakfast. Before taking a seat she asked Mac if she had any aspirin and Mac took her back to the master suite to find some for her. When they returned, Logan gestured to the empty seat beside his with a freshly poured cup of coffee ready for her. She quietly thanked him and sat down, scanning over the various breakfast options, and tried not to ogle him in his tight v-neck t-shirt and apparently still damp from the shower hair.

After giving her a few minutes to drink some coffee, Wallace asked if she wanted to join Cora and himself for dinner the following night. She said she already had plans that night, so they'd need to pick a different day. This drew some interest from Logan, as he had originally assumed her having dinner with Wallace was most likely the prior engagement she'd mentioned.

"I'm sure we can figure out a different night then," Wallace continued. "Are we still playing poker on Thursday?" he asked Logan and Dick.

"Yeah, and Weevs should be back in town this week too, so as long as the old ball and chain lets him out of the house, he should be joining us again too." Logan replied.

Veronica's eye's widened, "Whoa, Weevil is married, and still plays poker with you guys?"

"Yeah," Logan smirked at her, "You know," he said thoughtfully and continued in a low voice that made it hard for others at the table to hear, "he might actually have had 'property of Veronica Mars' tattooed somewhere on his body, but I didn't let that stop me from stealing him either."

Veronica rolled her eyes and kicked him lightly under the table.

"Actually he's married to Carmen Ruiz and…," Mac started to explain.

"Dude, speaking of Carmen," Dick interrupted, "I saw her last week and she's HUGE!"

Mac grimaced and smacked Dick on the shoulder, "She's almost 8 months pregnant, Dick. I saw her too and she looks absolutely gorgeous considering she's almost ready to have a baby."

Veronica nearly spit out her coffee. "He's going to be a father too?"

"Actually this is kid number two," Wallace chimed in, "they already have a 2 year old little boy. I really thought I'd mentioned that to you before, but I guess not."

"He works for Logan too," Mac added getting another look of disbelief from Veronica. "Well he works for the city, not Logan personally," she clarified. "He's the Director of the Maintenance Department." Logan smiled and confirmed it with a nod.

Cora tried to steer the conversation back to picking a night for them to have dinner. "So if Monday and Thursday are out, and you have late practice on Wednesday night, right Wallace?" Wallace nodded in agreement. "Then how about Tuesday night?" Veronica agreed that would work. "Hey Logan, you're welcome to join us too if you'd like." Cora added.

Veronica shifted a bit uncomfortably in her seat as she wondered what Cora might be up to, or what she might know from the night before.

"Thanks Cora, but I'll have to take a rain check. I have a planning meeting with the Chamber of Commerce that night."

Veronica's thoughts quickly shifted from what Cora might know, to Logan spending the evening with Alexis. She reminded her self that it didn't concern her and that she had no right to be jealous at all. Just because they had amazing sex last night, didn't mean they were jumping back into anything. She'd as much as told him that before she let him plunder her body.

After breakfast, they all decided to lounge around on the yacht for most of the day. The weather was turning out to be unusually warm for a fall day in Neptune and none of them had other things to do. Dinner with the Sinclair's wasn't until 6, so they had plenty of time to enjoy the amenities on the yacht. The guys took turns riding on a pair of seadoos while the ladies mostly lounged on the deck. Cora and Mac wanted to know what it was like living in Cape Cod, so that was mostly what they discussed.

At one point Veronica found her self alone on the deck with Cora. Cora gave her a little smile, and said "So what's up with you and Logan?"

Veronica tried to play coy and not give anything away. "Nothing, we just had a few dances last night at the ball and then chatted a little bit about my job and living in Massachusetts."

Cora smiled secretly at her, "It didn't exactly sound like chatting when I ran downstairs to grab a jacket from our cabin last night, but if that's the story you're going with, your secret is safe with me."

Veronica blushed and gave her a guilty look before thanking her for not mentioning it to anyone else.

Of course Logan chose that particular moment to appear on deck and Cora gave Veronica a sly smile and said she was going to run down to get another bottle of water.

"Enjoying the sun?" Logan asked as he sat down at the end of the lounge chair that Veronica was using. "You're shoulders are starting to get a little red, do you want me to put some more sun screen on you?"

She gave him a look to let him know that she knew exactly what he was up to and he feigned an innocent expression as if he didn't have anything salacious in mind.

"Fine, but don't get too frisky with those fingers, Mr. Mayor."

He laughed and grabbed the bottle of lotion, gesturing for her to sit up and turn so he could get her shoulders and back. He quickly looked around and not seeing anyone close to their vicinity, planted a few kisses along her neck before he started with the lotion.

"Logan," she warned.

"Shhh… no one's up here but us. It's the top deck so they can't see us from below and I'll hear them on the stairs before they get close enough to see anything."

She sighed and relaxed, enjoying the sensations that were quickly spreading all over her body. Not only did he spend his time kissing her neck, shoulders and back, but he gradually moved his hands from her waist up her stomach to massaging her breasts as well. Her breath started coming in quicker pants the longer he continued.

Unfortunately, after only a few minutes, Logan heard voices coming back toward the stairs, so he stopped what he was doing and started with the lotion. He had just come back from riding one of the seadoos and he had been carrying a towel to dry off with, so he strategically placed it across his lap so whoever was coming up the stairs wouldn't see the effect those few minutes of enjoying her body and the sounds she was making had on him.

Cora and Mac appeared on the deck, and neither seemed too surprised to see Logan rubbing lotion across Veronica's back and shoulders.

Logan went from just rubbing on the lotion, to massaging her shoulders as well. "You know what you ladies should do, is take Veronica to the spa one day to get massages. She could really use a good release of all this tension."

Veronica didn't really seem to even hear what he had said, lost in enjoying the feeling of him rubbing her not very tense shoulder muscles. "Mmm…. Yeah… that would be fun," She eventually said as he continued rubbing along her shoulders and back.

The other two women laughed quietly at the scene in front of them, but neither one said a word.

Logan thought if he stalled getting up for a while, it would let some of his arousal subside. But then he started giving her the shoulder massage and that didn't really seem to help as she was still making little sighing noises that were totally turning him on. His mind was racing trying to think of a believable excuse to get her alone down in his cabin again. But his mind was drawing a total blank, perhaps because most of his blood was flowing to another region of his body.

Cora continued to watch them, and noticed Logan's apparent discomfort and took pity on him. "Hey Mac, can you show me where to find those special hard lemonade drinks. I looked earlier, and couldn't seem to find any."

Mac smiled at Cora and nodded, she also wasn't blind to what was going on in front of them, and the two went back down to the main level together.

Logan breathed out a sigh of relief. "Sneak down to my cabin with me again before they come back," he pleaded running wet kisses along her shoulders and neck again. She could hear Dick and Wallace still out riding on the seadoos, and with Cora already privy to what they had been up to last night, and Mac not likely to go all the way down to the lower level, she decided the risk was worth it.

When they got to the main level, Mac and Cora were in the back by the pantry, so they didn't see the couple head down to the lower level. They quickly descended the stairs and he dragged her by the hand to his cabin, closing and locking the door. This time, she was the one who pushed him up against the door first. He groaned loudly as she lifted up on her tip toes to kiss him deeply, at the same time rubbing her hand up the front of his shorts.

"Sorry, but I think we'd better make this much quicker than last night," She said as she yanked his shorts off his hips, letting them fall to the ground.

"I know better than to argue with you, Bobcat," he moaned out breathlessly as she continued stroking him and enjoyed watching him quiver under her touch. She coaxed him over to sit on the edge of the bed and straddled his lap rocking up against him as she went back to kissing him passionately.

He groaned again, then lifted her up to a standing position, so he could pull off her bikini bottoms. He reached down to his duffle bag that was thankfully within reach of where he was sitting to grab a condom. Once he was ready for her, he picked her up again and helped her straddle his lap, quickly getting back to a pace that left them both sated and breathless several minutes later.

After getting cleaned up in his bathroom, they agreed to go off in different directions to try to make it look less suspicious. Veronica was at least thankful that she could still hear Dick and Wallace out riding on the seadoos, and with Cora already aware of their secret from the night before, it was only Mac that they had to try to allude. She went back up to the upper deck after grabbing a magazine that she found in her cabin and a bottle of water, hoping that Mac wouldn't catch on to what they had done. Once she reached the top deck, she realized she was the only one there, so stretched out again to read the magazine. She felt pretty confident that their little dalliance from a few minutes ago would remain a secret. Mac came up a short while later to tell her that they would probably be having lunch in another 30 minutes or so, and then she went back down to the main level without making any other comments.

After having a late lunch, Wallace and Cora took off for the day, and Veronica said she should probably head home too and get cleaned up and ready for dinner. Logan offered to give her a ride back to Keith's house. After collecting his bag and her ball gown, they said good bye to Mac and Dick and headed back up towards the Yacht Club. He led the way to his black convertible BMW and opened the trunk for his bag, carefully laying out Veronica's dress as well.

"Any more surprises I should be aware of?" Veronica asked as they drove back to Keith and Alicia's house?

"Oh, I'm sure there are." He smugly replied with a devious grin. "But I'm not going to ruin the fun and share them all at once. You're the one who always liked a good mystery, right?"

She rolled her eyes, and playfully swatted at his shoulder across the console of the car. She started chewing a bit on the end of her thumb nail, and caught him smiling at her when he noticed her doing it.

"I remember that look Veronica. What's going through that pretty head of yours?"

"I don't know. Just so many things to catch up on. Weevil and Carmen married now and being parents. Dick and Mac engaged to be married." She hesitated then asked anyway, "how about you..?" she trailed off without actually asking exactly what she was thinking.

He picked up the direction she was headed though and quickly debated whether to be snarky or serious. He decided to go with snarky first, "Why Miss Mars, are you implying you are actually interested in my relationship status? I'm pretty sure my Facebook page says single and interested in women." He waggled his eyebrows at her and gave her a leering grin.

She only huffed out a breath of air and rolled her eyes at him.

"Come on, Veronica, I wouldn't have let last night or this afternoon go the way they did if I was seriously involved with someone. I haven't changed that much."

She gave him a tight smile, then turned her attention to the passing scenery. While hearing that made her feel a little better, she was still plagued with thoughts of how friendly he was with his ex-fiancé. With their own lengthy history of stops and starts, she wondered how often he got Alexis to be his 'bunk mate' on the yacht. She also couldn't help but wonder how they went from being fiancés to very friendly ex-fiancés, but asking could give him the wrong idea since she wasn't yet sure herself of what she really wanted.

Then there was the fact that he answered the question with 'seriously involved', so she couldn't help but wonder how many non-serious women he was also fooling around with. While last night with him was amazing, and even the quick encounter this afternoon was extremely satisfying, she still wasn't convinced that getting involved with him again was a good idea. She'd also just ended her relationship with Dillon, which she thought was going along perfectly well until the rug was pulled out from under her. That was just one more reason why she was reluctant to jump into anything with Logan.

He glanced over at her a few times while he drove, and debated about whether he should interrupt her thoughts or not. He finally reached over and put a hand gently above her knee turning her attention back to him. "Hey, if there's anything you want to know, you just have to ask OK? None of us are intentionally keeping things from you, but a lot of things happened during the 8 years you were gone and it's hard to know exactly which ones you care about, let alone which ones you may or may not already know about." He gave her a compassionate smile as he finished.

"I mean, I'm sure you already know about Wallace and Gia's love child right?" He of course could only hold his face serious for a few seconds as her mouth dropped open and her eyes opened wide. As he started to chuckle, she reached over and swatted him on the shoulder again.

When they reached the house, he got out and retrieved her gown for her and walked her to the door.

"So who's your mystery date with tomorrow night?"

She shrugged and gave him her clueless look again. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her. "How about having dinner with me on Wednesday night?"

She thought about it for a moment before replying, "I'll have to get back to you on that." Then she added with a mischievous grin, "I'd hate to make any promises until I see how my hot date goes tomorrow night."

He shook his head at her, and leaned in and gave her a kick kiss on the lips. "Have fun tonight, but not too much fun tomorrow." Then he gave her a little wink and headed back to his car.


	7. Chapter 7 - Monday Night Dates

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 7 – Monday Night Dates

Dinner with the Sinclair's had been nicer than she was expecting. It was very heart-warming to see how well Mac had adjusted to being part of her biological family over the years. Dick of course was there as well, and he was actually very well behaved and doted over both Mac and Lauren throughout the evening. She was still having a hard time adjusting to Dick and Mac being a couple, but she was starting to admit that he had changed some over the years.

On Monday morning, Veronica headed to the office to work more on some of the easier cases. After doing several more background checks, she decided to tail a guy who was suspected of faking an injury for health insurance fraud. She'd forgotten how good it felt to get the money shot that would expose that lying piece of trash. In the early afternoon Casey had texted her information for where they were going to meet for dinner. He suggested a newer upscale restaurant called Sparta that was located in the 09 zip code.

Even though it wasn't a real date, she still wanted to look nice, so she picked out one of the fancier dresses she'd brought from Massachusetts. It was one of the few she owned that didn't make her look like a lawyer at a DA's office. As she sorted through the clothes she'd brought with her she started to realize how boring so many of them were. That sent her down a train of thought about how boring her life in Massachusetts had really become. While some of the cases she worked on had been interesting, being a junior member of the staff, she ended up with a lot that weren't so interesting. She didn't think her personal life with Dillon had been bad, but obviously there must have been something lacking there that led him to be unfaithful. She couldn't help but wonder if there had been signs all along with him that she just missed because she was too focused on her career.

When she arrived at the restaurant, Casey texted her again that he was running a little later than expected. She replied back not to worry and that she'd just wait at the bar in the restaurant for him. The bar was situated near the front of the building so she could keep an eye out for him coming in the front door. The bar wasn't very crowded when she arrived, so she was able to get a spot that let her easily see the entry way, as well as watch people walking past on the sidewalk. While she was waiting, the bar slowly started to fill up a bit more. As she glanced around at the various new comers, she caught herself indulging in an old habit of picking out which couples were there cheating on their spouses based on their body language and other physical clues. There must be something about being back in Neptune that brought out that side of her, since she couldn't remember doing it when she was in Massachusetts. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the bartender asking if he could get her anything.

As she thanked the bartender for her drink and turned back to the door, she immediately caught sight of Logan walking near the entrance with a young woman. Her arm was wrapped around his and they appeared to be laughing about something when she stopped and reached in her purse to answer her phone. She gestured "1 minute" to him, as she turned toward the street and continued her conversation. At that moment, Logan looked into the bar area and saw Veronica looking back at him. He shot her a quick smile and then leaned toward the young woman's free ear, and as she nodded he headed into the bar.

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, he walks into mine," she mumbled as he walked up and took the seat next to her.

"Don't tell me your hot date stood you up?" He asked with a look of mock concern.

She smirked back at him and told him that her date was just running a little late.

Luckily, or unluckily, she wasn't really sure, at that moment she saw Casey pass the young woman still on the phone. He spotted Veronica in the bar, and gave her a quick wave as he headed into the restaurant.

"Sorry I'm, late," he said as he walked over and then noticed Logan sitting next to her. "Hey Logan, man it's been a while. Good to see you." He held out his hand for them to shake.

Logan gave Veronica a quizzical look as he shook Casey's hand. "Yeah, nice to see you too." Veronica smirked a little as she could tell Logan wasn't exactly thrilled to find out who she was meeting for dinner.

Casey looked between the two of them for a moment then asked if she was ready to go to their table. She nodded and stood up from her stool.

"Take care Casey and nice to see you again, Veronica," Logan said adding a bit of extra emphasis to her name as they turned to walk into the dining area.

Just as he finished speaking, the young woman from the sidewalk joined him. Her eyes quickly darted between Logan and the retreating petite blonde. Her mouth dropped open for a minute, then she closed it and a gigantic smile formed on her lips. "Veronica? As in _**the**_ Veronica?" she squealed and then let out a little giggle.

"You've got some explaining to do, old man," she playfully teased him, as he grabbed her elbow and led her back toward the receptionist area that Casey and Veronica had just vacated. "I guess we're getting a table here then and not down the street?" she asked with a laugh, then added with a fake pout, "You promised me sushi remember."

"Cool it kiddo, or no dessert for you," He warned her as they were led to a table by one of the hostesses. Their table was across the restaurant from Veronica and Casey's, but Logan could still watch her since they ended up facing toward each other at their respective tables.

Heather Button, the young woman seated across from him, was now a 19 year old College Freshman at Hearst, and certainly not recognizable as the 11 year old girl Veronica met one time in the elevator at the Grand. Her enthusiasm for Logan's long lost love was evident as she continued to wear the gigantic smile as they were seated at the table.

"Spill mister!" She finally said as the hostess left. "You don't seem too surprised to see her here, so obviously you knew she was in town."

Logan leaned in a bit closer to her and filled her in on the Masquerade Ball and the after-party, though he left out the full details about their rendezvous below deck. Logan couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he watched her reaction to the story.

"So what are you going to do to win her back?" Heather asked, full of glee, as he finished his story. "Is that guy she's with her boyfriend or something?"

Thoughtfully, Logan shook his head, "I don't think so, she just got back to town a couple days ago, and had just broken up with someone right before she got here, so Casey definitely isn't her boyfriend, at least not at this point. I think she helped him back in high school though, so I don't know if they kept in touch over the years or not."

The thought that she may have kept in touch with Casey and not him all these years suddenly bothered him and he felt a rush of anxiety spread over him ending with a sinking feeling in his stomach. Heather noticed his change in demeanor and reached over to gently touch his hand. She remembered the time after Veronica had first left Neptune and how much it had hurt Logan that she had never contacted him again.

"I would think if they were actually still good friends, she would have invited him to the Yacht party, right?" Heather's enthusiastic smile was contagious and Logan quickly recovered from his dark thoughts.

"So what do you have planned next?"

"Well I've asked her to dinner a couple times now, but she's had other plans, so I guess I'll have to be persistent and eventually wear her down."

After a brief pause he added with a wicked little grin, "and I'm definitely not going to do any song dedications for her."

"Well being the Mayor now, that would probably be much easier to do," she quipped back.

At Veronica and Casey's table, the waitress was taking their orders. As the waitress finished with Veronica's and was taking Casey's, she couldn't help stealing a glance over at Logan and noticed how close he was leaning to the young woman. She also noticed that he seemed extremely engaged in their conversation with a very satisfied smile across his face. She was so distracted watching them that she didn't realize Casey had finished and that the waitress had asked her a clarifying question about her order and had to repeat it once she had Veronica's attention again. After the waitress left, Veronica asked Casey to tell her about the case to get her mind off Logan and the young woman across the restaurant.

"It actually involves an old friend of yours as well, Debbie Meyer" Casey started to explain. Veronica gave him a look of confusion. "You may have known her as Rain maybe, at the Moon Calf Collective?"

"Of course," Veronica replied. "She was so nice the couple of times that I visited. I was so glad that my dad didn't turn over the information about her being a run away."

Casey nodded and smiled a little sadly and then continued on with his story. He explained how during his Senior year of College he'd come back to Neptune for a friend's bachelor party and they ended up at the Seventh Veil.

"I was more than a little shocked to run into Debbie working there as a dancer. She recognized me from our time at the collective, and once her initial embarrassment was gone, she talked with me a bit more. She told me she was working there as a way to pay her way through college."

Veronica couldn't imagine the girl she knew as Rain working as a dancer at the Seventh Veil and agreed that she would find that shocking too.

"I thought back to how nice she had been to me during the time I was at the Collective with her and I knew she had a really bad childhood which had led to her being a run away in the first place. I just felt like she deserved a break for once in her life, so I offered her an entry level position at my publishing company and said that I'd be willing to make her a personal loan that she could pay back to me after she graduated."

He went on to explain that she became like a little sister to him and really excelled while working at the publishing company. When she graduated she became one of their best editors and was amazing working with even the most difficult authors.

Veronica could sense how fond and proud he had become of her, but then his look of adoration faded as he continued to the next part of his story.

Casey took a deep mournful sigh, "About a month ago I received a visit from the police to inform me that she had reportedly committed suicide by jumping from the Coronado Bridge."

Veronica's face paled and she shot a quick glance over at Logan's table. She felt her heart rate speed up and sucked in a painful breath as the muscles in her chest constricted. Her mind immediately raced back to all those years ago when the same thing had happened with Logan's mom, even right down to it being from the same bridge.

Casey's expression changed from mournful to frustrated as he went on to explain that the evidence the police had just didn't add up to him. "They said they found drugs in her car and at her apartment, but in all the years I've known her, she never did anything like that. I'm certain we would have noticed at work if there was something like that going on. I tried to convince the police that it wasn't a suicide and that there was something else going on, but no one would take me seriously. They claimed she had even left a note and they couldn't find any proof that it wasn't anything other than a suicide."

He paused for a moment to regain his composure, "I refuse to believe it though Veronica, and I want to uncover the truth and make sure anyone who was responsible for anything that may have happened to her are held accountable."

As Casey finished his story, Veronica debated whether she should offer to help or not. On one hand, she also wanted to find justice for Debbie if it really wasn't a suicide, but on the other hand this was a much harder case than she had expected. There was also the unsettling similarity to Lynn Echolls' suicide, right down to both Logan and Casey's passionate refusals to believe that the person they each thought they knew so well could have really done it.

After a bit more internal debating, her desire to seek justice won out and she agreed she would work on the case and see how far she got by the time her dad returned and then they could bring him in to help if needed.

"Would it be possible for me to visit the publishing company and meet some of the other employees who might be able to shed more light on what was going on in her life?" she asked once she thought a little more about where to start.

"Sure, you can come visit me there tomorrow if that works for you. And I'm also willing to help you in anyway possible to get to the bottom of whatever was going on, in addition to paying for your time of course."

Veronica briefly glanced at Logan's table again and wondered how the news had hit him when it was reported. While he wouldn't have known Debbie, the similarity to his own mother's death must have been difficult for him to deal with.

Back at Logan's table, Heather excused herself to use the restroom, which was located a little ways behind where they were seated. Logan turned and watched her go, and as he turned back to finish his meal he looked up to see Veronica also heading to the restroom. She gave him a small smile, then changed course a bit and headed toward his table.

"She seems a little on the young side there, Mr. Mayor," she said as she got close to his table.

Logan smirked and decided to play along since he was reeling a little about her having dinner with Casey, "She's over 18, that's legal." He became entranced in thought for a moment, before continuing. "Love has no age, no limit, and no death - John Galsworthy" he added with a leering grin.

Veronica shook her head and gave him an amused grin, then turned back on her path toward the restroom. As she continued on, Logan began to get a bit worried thinking about both women alone in the bathroom and what sort of mischief Heather might get into with her. Flashbacks to the extreme awkwardness he'd felt during that elevator ride long ago caused an unsteady feeling to settle over him. He sighed in relief as Heather opened the door to come back out right as Veronica reached it. Heather smiled politely at her, then after Veronica passed, shot him another one of her gigantic cheesy grins. Logan shook his head and turned back to his meal with a little chuckle escaping his lips.

As Veronica passed her at the door, she finally got an up close look at the young woman that had been dining with Logan. She definitely couldn't be much older than 18, she thought to herself as she took in her features. She of course couldn't help but let her mind wander back to his 'not seriously involved' comment when he drove her home yesterday and she wondered how many women he was 'not seriously involved' with. So far there was Alexis, and now a very attractive young college coed, not to mention herself being on that list too. Maybe Logan Echolls the Mayor wasn't that much different than the promiscuous Logan Echolls she used to know.


	8. Chapter 8 - Favors

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 8 – Favors

When Veronica returned home, she started planning out the next steps in her investigation. She had mixed emotions about the case. On one hand she was excited about the idea of investigating again since it was a bit different than the work she had been doing for the DA's office. She just wished it was under different circumstances. She decided she really needed to get a hold of the police report to review all the evidence the police had found. Since the case was closed it should be possible to get it through the appropriate channels, but having an inside person would certainly speed it up.

As she wandered through the big empty house her mind started to wander back to Logan. With his position as the Mayor, he would likely have connections at the Sheriff's Office and could help her get a copy of it. She walked slowly down the hall looking at the various family pictures that Alicia had hung on the walls. Sadly, most didn't include her since she hadn't made it back to Neptune very often. There was one from a time they all came out to visit her in Cape Cod and she smiled fondly when she saw it, thinking back to how great it was to have family come and visit her.

Her mind quickly jumped back to the case as she continued to the guest room, turning off a few lights that she'd left on along her way. If Logan had heard about the suicide, he might recognize the name and she didn't want to dredge up all those painful memories for him. She at least had a new step-mother to fill some of the void that had been left when Lianne disappeared, but she doubted Logan ever found anything to fill his. Although who knows, in all the time she'd been away and given his relationship with Alexis, maybe her mom had helped fill that empty place in his heart that only a mother could really fill.

As far as Debbie's story, this was Neptune, and there was the possibility that a random girl's suicide wouldn't have gotten a lot of coverage either, at least not compared to the focus that was typically reserved in town for 09'ers and celebrities. Maybe he wouldn't realize what the case entailed even if he did see her name. She debated what to do as brushed her teeth and washed her face in the bathroom. She finally made up her mind as she drifted off to sleep that she'd take the chance and see if he could help her out, and then she'd head to Casey's office to do some investigating there.

She decided to visit Logan's office first thing in the morning and stopped to pick up coffee for him on her way there. She was still internally debating whether asking him for help was a wise decision or not as she stood in line to get the coffee. She didn't want to open old wounds for him, but having the case file would really help move her investigation along. She really hoped that he wouldn't recognize the name when she gave it to him. With any luck, maybe he'd just send her directly to whoever his contact might be and then she wouldn't even have to tell him which case she was interested in. After giving the barista her coffee order, she decided she'd help sweeten the deal and grabbed a couple of scones as well since she remembered that he used to enjoy those too.

Her internal debate started up again as she approached the front doors of City Hall, but she convinced herself things would be fine and continued on. She glanced up at the reader board in the lobby that listed out the various offices and staff names. She quickly found the office number for the Mayor and then grimaced as she saw the Chamber of Commerce and Alexis listed as well. For some reason seeing him with the young woman last night didn't bother her as much as seeing him with Alexis at the ball had. While he seemed to be enjoying his dinner the night before, there didn't seem to be the same type of chemistry between him and the young woman, as opposed to him and Alexis dancing and talking so comfortably together.

When she reached the Mayor's office, the receptionist's desk was empty, but she could hear voices coming from the office behind it with the name, Logan Echolls, etched across the glass of the door. She thought she had heard both a male and female voice. She was pretty sure the male voice was Logan's, though he was talking a bit quietly, and from her location it was difficult to tell with certainty. Once she heard him laugh though, she could immediately tell it was him. She decided to poke her head in and see if he was busy, hoping it was just his receptionist that he was talking with versus having an important meeting with someone. Given the door was mostly ajar, she assumed he probably wasn't in a very official meeting.

She knocked lightly on the door frame, to give warning of her presence in case they were talking about any confidential information, although she wasn't sure what sort of super secret confidential information would float around the Mayor's Office.

The talking stopped and Logan looked up to see who had knocked, as did the other person in the room. A tall brunette was leaning up against his desk on the same side as his chair and she glanced over her shoulder to see who was at the door. Even without the distinctive red and gold mask, Veronica could still easily recognize her as Alexis.

"Sorry, I hope I'm not interrupting, but there wasn't anyone at your receptionist's desk." Her voice was a mixture of apology and uncertainty. She was glad that she was across the room as she could feel her pulse speed up as she took in the unexpected scene.

"No, it's fine," Logan answered back, standing up from his chair behind his desk and gave her a shy smile. Alexis stood up from her leaning position as well and turned to face Veronica. Logan glanced quickly between the two women and then realized introductions were in order. "Veronica Mars, this is Alexis Calloway, she's the president of the Neptune Chamber of Commerce."

Alexis was dressed in a tight black pencil skirt with a scarlet low cut fitted blouse that was a far cry from the boring work shirts that Veronica had worn at the DA's office. Veronica could tell from looking at her ensemble that it was likely more expensive than 5 of her business suits combined. Even the jewelry she was wearing screamed wealth and sophistication. Veronica couldn't help but consider how the slightly casual blouse and skirt she had selected to wear today contrasted against the outfit that Alexis was wearing.

Alexis shot Logan a knowing looking, then smiled at Veronica, "Hi, it's a pleasure to meet you. Logan's mentioned you before. Welcome back to Neptune." She paused a moment, then turned back to Logan, resting her well manicured hand on his shoulder and flicking slightly at the seam, "Hey, do you want the usual for dinner tonight? I was going to have Jayne put in the orders and wanted to see if you had any special requests." She reached out and straightened his tie, as he replied that the usual was fine. "Well I should be headed back to my Office. See you tonight at the meeting then."

"Thanks Lexi." Logan answered as she started to move away from him toward the door and Veronica. Veronica couldn't help but notice the nickname and the familiarity that exuded from the two of them.

She smiled politely at Veronica as she headed out the door. Veronica could hear her high heels click as she continued down the corridor back to where the Chamber's Offices were located.

Veronica quickly tried to regain her composure and held up the coffee and scones. "I come bearing gifts," she joked as she headed farther into his office.

"While I appreciate the hospitality, I'm a bit surprised to see you, especially bearing gifts." He said as he looked at her suspiciously.

"What, I can't just stop in to see the inner workings of Neptune's Mayor's Office?"

"You could, but is that really why you're here?" He raised his eyebrow at her questioningly.

She sighed and set the coffee and scones on the edge of his desk. "No, I was hoping to see if you'd be able to do me a favor."

He waggled his eyebrows at her, and moved toward the door closing it to give them more privacy. "Hm… what sort of favor? A repeat of my performance on the yacht?" he teased as he moved closer to where she was standing with a predatory look in his eyes.

"No! Not that kind of favor." She quickly blurted out. "More of a pulling some strings sort of favor."

He laughed and then returned to his big chair behind his desk. "I liked my idea better," he said with a pout as he sat down. Then his expression changed to a mischievous one. "So you're actually trying to get me to abuse my Mayoral powers to do you a favor?"

"Well I don't know if it's a total abuse of your powers." She said with a shy smile. "But I need to get a hold of a police report on a closed case, and thought that you might have some contacts at the Sheriff's Office and could help me expedite it."

"Hm…" he said pondering the situation more before giving her a reply. His mischievous expression grew more intense and there was a brighter sparkle in his eyes. "If I agree to this, I want something from you in return."

She sighed and rolled her eyes in a playful, put out sort of way. "Fine, what will it cost me to get a hold of the file."

"I want you to spend a day with me, not just a dinner date, but let's say a full 24 hours." He looked at her expectantly carefully watching for her reaction.

"24 hours?" She scoffed back. "That seems a bit extreme. How about 6 hours."

"Wow, from 24 to 6, do you really think I'm that bad at negotiating or were you hoping I was just desperate enough to give up easily on this? No deal." His look changed to a challenging grin.

"Fine," she said with a sigh, though her expression showed that she was enjoying his little game just as much as he was, "how about 12 hours."

He seemed to be doing math in his head, or some other sort of complex thought process, contemplating whether 12 hours would be enough time. She didn't even want to know what he was thinking of if it was that complicated that he had to spend that much time thinking it over. She was about to give up and figure out another way to get the police report, when he finally said, "Fine, I guess I can work with that."

"Thank you," She said with a bright smile. "I'm sure I'm going to regret this later aren't I?" He just shrugged and gave her a teasing look that she probably would.

"I shouldn't have a problem getting a hold of the file if it's a closed case. Write down the name, and I'll see if Leo can have it sent over here for you."

"Leo? As in Leo D'Amato?"

"Hm… yes, that would be the one. Sheriff D'Amato I suppose you would say. You know we really should try to get you some sort of Cliffs Notes version of Neptune's Goings-Ons over the last 8 years." He paused and his expression changed to one she remembered when he was being an annoying jackass, "or maybe you should spend a little more time checking into things yourself rather than having dinner with millionaire publishing executives."

She shot him an annoyed glare, though quickly tried to recover her composure again since it was her who needed the favor. Of course he was right, and she may have been able to get it herself if she'd realized Leo was the Sheriff now. Yet again, one more piece of information that would have been good to know beforehand. She really shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss her Dad and Wallace when they had asked her if she wanted to know what was going on around Neptune during their occasional calls.

He noticed her glare, and also quickly realized that if he wanted to get his 12 hour date with her, he'd better play nice. He might not get another chance like this and he'd be an idiot to screw it up.

"Sorry, that was totally out of line." His expression softened back to a friendly smile, "I guess I'm just cranky because I haven't had enough caffeine yet this morning." He picked up the coffee she'd brought him and gave her a little toast with the cup before bringing it to his lips for a sip. "Ah the perfect blend of coffee and cream. Danke."

He passed her a post-it note and a pen and asked her to write down the name on the case, and he'd have it for her as soon as he could. He also managed to convince her to leave her cell phone number so he could reach her when it was ready for her to pick up. She teased him with a questioning look, but gave him the number anyway.

"I must say though," giving her a shy tentative grin, "I was surprised to see you with Casey. I didn't realize you two had remained friends all these years." He may be trying to play nice, but he was still interested in assessing the situation. He was also still a little hurt by the thought that she may have stayed in touch with Casey for the last 8 years while she did her best to avoid him completely. "Do you two have plans to get together again?"

She smiled sweetly and said, "As a matter fact we do. I'm actually heading off to see him when I'm done here." Not a total lie, although she probably could have clarified she was working on a case for him, but she was enjoying the sparring a little bit too much. Plus seeing Alexis fawning over him when she arrived was still a little bit of a sting to her ego.

"Well give him my best regards then," he said in as neutral a voice as he could muster with an exaggerated fake smile on his face. He sensed though that she seemed to be enjoying their banter and he thought she was mostly playing with him, so he was hoping her visits with Casey were just as platonic friends.

He looked down at the note as she handed it back and his smile quickly fade from his face when he read the name. Damn, he did know the story around her case, Veronica thought to herself.

"You know there's an old proverb that states 'Lightning never strikes twice in the same place', whoever said that obviously has never lived in Neptune," he said somewhat dolefully. He took a deep breath, then spoke again, "Of course there's another saying around that same topic. 'The reason lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place is that the same place isn't there the second time.'"

"I'm really sorry Logan," she said with deep regret in her voice. "I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't really important."

She couldn't help walking over to stand beside his chair and gently put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her with almost the same hurt in his big brown eyes that she remembered that night at the Sunset Regent. She ran her hand along the side of his cheek and he reached out and pulled her gently into his lap. He rested his head against the side of her neck and took a deep shuddering breath, while she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her cheek against his head. She gently ran her hand across his shoulders in a soothing motion. He had positioned his arms around her waist and squeezed her tightly. After a minute or two had passed he drew in another deep breath, and lifted his head up from her neck with his expression slightly more composed again.

"You'd better not keep Casey waiting. I'll send you a text when the case file is here so you can stop by and get it." He paused for a moment before he continued, "Since we're having a late Chamber meeting tonight, the front lobby will be open, and I can leave it with the security guard at the front desk if my office is already closed up for the day."

She sighed sadly and gave him a sympathetic look. She gently rubbed her hand along the side of his face again. She placed a light kiss on his forehead and thanked him, then got up off of his lap and headed toward the door. It was obvious to her by his tone and the dismissal from his words that he was done with this conversation for now and that it was probably best that she left.

He was still struggling to fully regain his composure and as she reached the door he simply said, "Saturday."

She turned, giving him a questioning look, and he explained, "Your 12 hour debt to me, plan to make good on it this Saturday. I'll pick you up at 10am."

She nodded and gave him a little smile, then headed back to the front of the building. As she walked back to her car she was now filled with horrible regret that she had asked him to get the case file. It broke her heart to see that sad broken look on his face again after all these years. Even though it had been 10 years since Lynn died, to see that look in his eyes today immediately transported her back in time to that terrible night at the Sunset Regent. When she felt him tremble against her shoulder it took all her strength not to cry. In hindsight as she reached the parking lot she really wished she had been honest with him about why she was meeting Casey considering the horrible blow she just left him with.


	9. Chapter 9 - Sleuthing

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 9 – Sleuthing

Veronica spent most of Tuesday afternoon talking to several of Debbie's coworkers to try to put together a better picture of what her life had been like prior to the night on the bridge. She was able to find out that she'd been dating a man for the past few months, but none of the people she had talked to had met him yet, and they weren't even sure what his name was. Casey also wasn't sure who the man may have been as he'd been doing a lot of traveling for work right before the incident and hadn't been able to spend much time with Debbie.

After talking with several coworkers, Veronica was finally able to find one coworker that Debbie seemed to be the closest to, a young woman named Ashley. Ashley looked as though she was probably about the same age as Debbie. When Veronica mentioned why she was there, a forlorn look crossed across her face and she said they could talk in her office.

"I was so shocked when the news came out. Debbie was such a sweetheart, it was just a horrible tragedy," Ashley explained as she took a seat behind her desk and gestured at the empty chair in front of the desk for Veronica to take.

"We would have lunch together several times a week and we'd even gone out together a few times after work. That's actually how I found out that she use to dance at the Seventh Veil. She had tried to keep that a secret, but one night when we were out at a dance club, she ran into a couple of the girls she knew from there and the topic came up. She seemed pretty friendly with the girls, like they had been staying in touch, so they might have some information that would help you too. I'm sorry that I don't remember their names though."

When Veronica asked about the mystery boyfriend Ashley replied, "Yeah, I ran into her with him one night a couple weeks before… well you know." She shuddered a bit then continued, "She introduced him as something like BJ, TJ or PJ, but it was really loud in the club we were at and I'd had several drinks already by the time I ran into them, so my memory of the night is a little fuzzy. As I remember, he was pretty average build and average height, with sandy blonde hair, or maybe it was light brown. I can't really remember exactly which club we were at, although it might have been Growlers, but it could have been another club near there called The Clover."

Veronica thanked her for her help and asked her to give her a call if she thought of anything else that might help and left her with her number.

Veronica received a text from Logan at about 3pm to let her know the file was at his office and that she could pick it up whenever she wanted to. Well that's how she interpreted it anyway. In reality the text was only four words "_file's here. ready whenever_." Either he's not much for texting, or he's still upset about the case or Casey, she thought to herself. She made it back to his office at 4pm, hoping to maybe catch him and do a little damage control, but his receptionist said he had already gone to the Chamber meeting and wouldn't be done until 8pm or later. Veronica briefly wondered if he'd stalled on sending her the text until his meeting was starting in an attempt to avoid her.

Veronica spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Wallace and Cora, which she enjoyed but her mind was preoccupied by both the case and Logan. She kept imagining him with Alexis, both at the ball and this morning in his office. She thought about how convenient it was for them to work in the same office building, and to have late night planning meetings, seemingly on a regular basis since they had 'usual' dinner orders.

When she got home from dinner, she gave Mac a call and asked if she could swing by MI in the morning to take a look at her dad's computer, because she thought there was something wrong with it. She also hoped that maybe Mac could give her some intel on the clubs and other avenues she should think about trying. She was more than ready to admit that being gone for 8 years had put her at a disadvantage of knowing the ins and outs of the town and the best places to go for that sort of information.

Drifting off to sleep, she was thinking about Ashley's description of the mystery man known as BJ, TJ or PJ. That led to a very odd dream involving Tijuana, her in pajamas and giving some faceless mystery guy oral sex. She woke up from that dream cursing to herself that it sort of sucked being back in Neptune.

Mac met her at the office in the morning, and when she was done giving Keith's PC a tune up, she asked what else she needed help with. Veronica wanted to ask her about Alexis in addition to the case, but wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not. She decided to just bite the bullet and ask about her first otherwise she was worried she'd be too preoccupied on that to focus on the case.

Veronica let out a deep sigh, and Mac could tell that she was struggling with what to say. "Hey Bond, obviously there's something on your mind that you want to ask, so just spit it out already," she paused and narrowed her eyes at Veronica, "and I don't think it has to do with your case does it?'

"No," Veronica said glumly, "but I don't want you to think I'm being petty or jealous."

Mac smiled realizing it was about Alexis. "You want to know more about Alexis don't you?"

"If I just nod and don't say it, does that make it seem less petty?" Veronica asked with a sheepish expression across her face.

Mac chuckled and then sat down next to her on the small couch. Mac gave her a quick sympathetic pat on her shoulder and smiled knowingly at her. "Logan and Alexis met at the beginning of our Junior year at Hearst. I think she had transferred from some other college up around LA. They were both taking Political Science classes and when he found out that she was really into surfing, he invited her to join him a few times. They seemed to really hit it off quickly after that. In some ways, Alexis always seemed like a female version of Logan to me. They had so many similar traits," she made a slightly disgruntled face, "like coming across as extremely arrogant sometimes and being able to sweet talk their way into getting things they wanted. They both grew up with wealthy families too. Her parents own a successful winery outside of LA. They seemed to really enjoy challenging each other, and it didn't really matter what the competition was, they just each had to try to out do the other. I will say he probably had the best grades he ever had since he'd been at Hearst once they started trying to beat each other, so I guess that was a positive thing."

Mac paused and then got a more agitated look on her face. "But I never really trusted her and we never became very good friends. I tried to tolerate her for Logan's sake though. After a few months of casual dating, they became more of an official couple. He would bring her along on trips we would all take together during school breaks and they were always at parties and other events together."

She hesitated a bit then continued, "I sort of became suspicious though that Alexis wasn't always the faithful girlfriend that she pretended to be, which was maybe why I had a hard time warming up to her initially, like it was a vibe she gave off or something. But the few times I would mention something to either Logan or Dick that seemed questionable, they would both tell me that I was just imaging it or over reacting. They would both excuse her behavior saying that she was just a flirt like Logan could be sometimes and it was innocent."

"During the last term of their Senior year, they ended up moving in together and then Logan proposed right after graduation. I was in the process of moving up to San Francisco at that point, and so I wasn't around them as much for a while after that." She paused as if trying to remember back, "I saw them when I came back the first year for Christmas to visit my family and everything seemed fine, but then by the time I came back the following Thanksgiving, I heard that they had called off the engagement."

"I was still living in San Francisco though, so I didn't get a lot of details about what was going on. By the time I moved back, she was still around off and on, but they were no longer living together and didn't seem like a real couple anymore. And then of course when Logan became Mayor and she secured the Chamber of Commerce spot, they started being together a lot more again. But I never did hear what had happened to end the engagement. I got the sense that Dick never heard the real reason either, because I was never able to get an answer from him about it. I don't even know if it was Logan that ended the engagement or if it was Alexis."

She gave Veronica a somewhat sympathetic smile, wondering to herself how much the story might be troubling her.

"Personally I'm glad he didn't marry her," Mac shared, "but he sure hasn't cut her completely out of his life either. She seems to be the type of woman who likes to keep guys around so she can use them for whatever she might need them for. I've always thought she was super manipulative, but the guys just seem to be oblivious to it."

Veronica told her about the run in she had the prior morning at his office, to which Mac confirmed that sounded like typical Alexis behavior. "She frequently has her hands all over him whenever possible, but always in a way that doesn't seem to push the boundaries of inappropriate. But I guess some people are just more touchy-feely than others." She shivered like that would be the worst thing in the world. Veronica chuckled a little since neither of them had ever been the big touchy-feely type, well not in public, and excluding significant others of course.

"Do you think he still loves her?" Veronica asked point blank.

Mac let out a deep sigh, "I think you need to ask him that. He loved her enough at one time to propose, but I don't know about now. But you know he loved you too right?"

Veronica nodded solemnly, although Mac wasn't sure how convinced she was.

"I probably shouldn't even mention this, but you're one of my dearest friends, and so is he now. We'd been back at school for a few weeks, so it was probably right around the beginning of October of our sophomore year, and I had stopped over at the Grand to pick up a check from our website earnings. He'd had quite a few drinks before I arrived, or I don't think he would have said anything." Veronica couldn't help but wonder if it was October 3rd, the anniversary of Lilly's death. She had also found her self more than a little drunk on several of those anniversaries after she had left, even more so during years that she felt particularly alone.

"I don't remember everything he went on about, but I do remember him saying that cliché of 'if you love something let it go' quote, and telling me that was why he didn't try to contact you after you left and transferred to school in Virginia. That he loved you too much to keep messing up your life, disappointing you and causing you pain. It was glaringly obvious how much he loved you Veronica."

Veronica's face changed to a sorrowful expression, and she nodded her head in understanding.

"If it means anything, or if you care for it to mean anything," she said with a mischievous little smile and hoped this might end the melancholy tone that had developed, "this was the first Masquerade Ball after-party on the yacht that Logan didn't bring her along to."

Veronica couldn't help but smile brightly at that and then for some unknown reason got a little embarrassed about her reaction.

"Come on Veronica," Mac continued, "you've got to admit there's still a lot of chemistry between you and Logan, right? I noticed the way the two of you were eyeing each other on the yacht, even if you were trying to play it cool. And sorry to say, but the ice cream cover didn't really fool me. Your cheeks and neck were a bit too rosy to be from just sitting around chatting about Massachusetts. Maybe you should try to get him to go back to being clean shaven if you want to get away with more mischief without being caught."

Veronica could feel her face get even hotter as she was completely embarrassed now and covered her face with her hands, shaking her head.

"I mean really, how long could you expect to go without sampling the fettuccine again?" Mac continued to tease, enjoying herself as Veronica squirmed from her playful accusations.

"Enough!" Veronica exclaimed, still clearly a bit embarrassed that she wasn't as sneaky as she had hoped when they were on the yacht.

Veronica quickly changed the subject to Debbie's case. She gave Mac an overview of what she'd learned from talking to her co-workers.

"I was able to get a copy of the police report and read through it. Casey had mentioned being told there was a suicide note, but there wasn't a copy of one in the file, which seems a little suspicious to me. But then the investigation notes did allude to something being found that suggested she had been depressed over a recent break up. Their theory was that she was upset about the break up and then jumped from the bridge. They found her car abandoned on the bridge in the middle of the night, with a vial containing a small amount of Liquid X, her purse and cell phone in the car." A shiver spread through Veronica again thinking about how similar it really was to Lynn's case.

"They still haven't recovered her body from the bay though and without it, they couldn't do an autopsy or toxicology report to confirm that she'd taken the rest of the vial, so that's just conjecture. Other than the missing note, there's nothing about the case file that's really jumping out at me though. The police were also never able to identify who her mystery boyfriend was."

When she said the only information they had to go on for the boyfriend's name was BJ, TJ or PJ, Mac laughed. "Well that really narrows it down doesn't it?"

Veronica really wanted to try to find the girls from the Seventh Veil that Debbie had been friends with, but didn't think going down there by herself was probably a great idea. Mac suggested her calling Casey to see if he could go with her. She said she would have volunteered Dick, but with his connections to his own club, she didn't think that would work out well, and given Logan was the Mayor, she also didn't think that was going to be a good option since she didn't think he should really be seen hanging around a strip club. They both agreed that Wallace probably wouldn't be a great choice either, since he had his own reputation to keep up for teaching and coaching at the high school. Veronica agreed that Casey made the most sense, and he had said that he'd be willing to help in any way he could.

She dialed Casey's number. "Hey, how'd you like to go watch strippers with me tonight?" she teased as he answered the phone. Mac could hear Casey laugh on the other end of the line. Veronica filled him in on her plan and they agreed he would meet her at Keith and Alicia's house around 9pm and they would head over to the strip club then.

Mac said she could try going through the video from Growler's security cameras, but it might take her a while to find Debbie, if she had even been there, since they weren't sure which club she'd been seen at by Ashley. She did have some facial recognition software that could help if they wanted to give that a try.

"I should warn you though that The Clover has connections to the Fitzpatrick's. Molly's actually the one who opened the night club, seemingly to get in a more respectable business. Of course it doesn't take a PI license to deduce where her startup capital likely came from. It competes quite heavily with Growlers, while it doesn't cater so much to the type of customers that the River Styx pulls in. And while Dick tries to keep the drug element out of Growlers as much as possible, it's pretty broadly known that The Clover isn't as strict and there's a lot of speculation that there's probably a Fitzpatrick distribution network selling drugs over there."

Given her connection and loyalty to Dick, Mac said that she had mostly stayed away from The Clover, so she wasn't able to give her much more information than that.

Veronica decided that while they would hit the Seventh Veil tonight, that maybe she should wait until Friday night to visit The Clover and Growlers to see if they could find anyone who might have known Debbie. She thought they'd have better luck if it was on a busier night. She told Mac to hold off running through the security footage until she could see how much she could find out at The Seventh Veil.

Veronica decided she'd probably have more luck at the Seventh Veil if she was dressed to blend in a bit more, so she stopped off at a clothing store before heading home to eat dinner. She didn't really have any undercover clothes left, as that wasn't something she ever had to do at the DA's Office. She actually had fun finding a rather provocative outfit for the occasion. All of her important body parts were well covered, but it definitely showed more skin than her normal going out attire. Maybe there were some parts of being a P.I that she had missed after all. What girl doesn't like to play dress-up every now and then.

Back at Keith's she ate a quick dinner and then got dressed for their investigative outing. She had asked Casey to bring any recent pictures he had of Debbie along too in case they needed to use them. She was just strapping on the new heels she'd bought to go along with the outfit, when she heard Casey knock at the door. She grabbed her purse and a light jacket and headed to the front door. As she swung the front door open, her eyes opened in surprise to find Logan standing there. Her surprise was mirrored in his face as he took a look at her outfit.

"Um…" he slowly stuttered out, "I, uh, was in the neighborhood and saw you were home, and, uh, wanted to apologize for yesterday at my office."

"Oh," was all she was able to get out of her mouth as her brain tried to catch up with what was going on.

And of course as luck would have it, because that just seemed to be how the universe in Neptune still operated, Casey came bounding up the steps right behind Logan to meet her.

"Wow, we really need to stop meeting like this," Casey joked as he saw Logan and Veronica both standing at the doorway.

Logan's expression became even more confused as he glanced at the very provocative outfit Veronica was wearing and then back at Casey.

"Sorry, I'd better be going." Logan quickly blurted out as he turned to head back down the steps toward his car.

"No wait Logan," Veronica was able to squeak out as her brain was racing to figure out what to say to explain the situation.

Logan paused for a moment at the bottom of the steps and turned to give her a slightly bothered look. "It's fine Veronica," he said trying to keep his voice calm and neutral. "I'll catch up with you later. Have fun wherever you two are off to." And with that he quickly made it to his car and drove off.

Casey quickly figured out what was going on. "He doesn't know you're working on a case for me does he?"

Veronica gave him a slightly guilty look, "No. I may not have mentioned that was the reason why I was meeting you Monday night or yesterday."

Casey shook his head and laughed at her. "You'd better not get me in trouble with the Mayor of Neptune, Veronica. I don't need any mysterious infractions thrown at me from City Hall," he added in a teasing tone.

"Seriously though, you should let him know you're working for me. I know you have client confidentiality rules to worry about, but I'm fine with you letting Logan know about the case you're working on for me. While I'm flattered you may have considered making him a little jealous by keeping him in the dark, I don't think that's a good idea in the long run."

She smiled appreciatively and said she agreed, and that she'd straighten everything out the next day.

They had a little bit of luck at the Seventh Veil, finding a couple girls that did know Debbie, but none of them knew who her mystery boyfriend was. They all supported Casey's claim that even when she worked there, they never saw her take any drugs and that she rarely even drank alcohol. Overall though the night was sort of a bust, and on top of it, Logan was probably even less happy with her than he had been when she left his office on Tuesday. Casey and Veronica tentatively planned to visit both Growlers and The Clover on Friday night to see if they would have any more luck in trying to track down Debbie's mystery boyfriend. That gave her tomorrow to set everything straight with Logan.


	10. Chapter 10 - Avoidance

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 10 - Avoidance

Thursday morning, Veronica called Logan to see if he could talk so that she could clear the air with him about Casey. She could imagine the outfit and late night arrival time had way different connotations than just meeting Casey for dinner. She had tried him at 8, and it went straight to voicemail. She left him a message that she wanted to talk with him when he had some time. She didn't want to try to explain things in a voicemail message. She hoped he wasn't actually avoiding her call. At 8:30 he sent her a text that he got her message but he was tied up with work meetings and that he'd try to call her when he had a break.

In addition to worrying about what Logan might be thinking, Veronica was also frustrated that they didn't seem to be making much progress yet on Debbie's case and after reading through the police report a couple more times, she finally decided to go into the office to work on some of the other cases. She had let Mac know that they'd hold off on looking at Growlers' security footage until they had more information, since she still wasn't sure Debbie had been at Growlers that night.

Her mind kept drifting from Debbie's case, to Logan, occasionally landing on what might be happening back in Massachusetts in regards to her employment status, as well as what she was going to do about all her stuff that was still at Dillon's apartment, and then cycling back through those in random order through out the morning. It made it hard to concentrate on the other cases she was trying to work on for her dad, and she had to keep starting over several times when she would get off track. Logan finally texted her again around 11 and apologized that he was having a screwed up day and still hadn't had a chance to call her back but he hadn't forgotten.

At 5 minutes to noon her phone finally rang and she saw his name flash up on the display. She felt the tension that had been building in her body all morning subside a bit with the relief that he wasn't actually just avoiding her. She had tried to rationalize that with herself, but for the four hours since she first left him the message, her troublesome imagination was starting to get the better of her.

"Hi Logan, thanks for calling me back," she started out before he quickly jumped in, talking with her at a rather quick pace.

"Sorry Veronica, I only have a minute before I have to go into another meeting, but I didn't want to make you think I was avoiding you. There were a bunch of last minute strategy meetings that we had to cram in before a big board meeting and sometimes we just have crazy days like this."

"It's OK," was all she was able to get out before he started talking again. While his voice sounded a bit frantic, it was more of a busy frantic than an angry with her frantic at least.

"Then there was a last minute cancellation by one of the board members to go to a charity benefit dinner in LA tonight with Alexis, and so I'm going to have to fill in and take off as soon as the meetings are over to drive up for that. But you should go to the poker game tonight. They'll all still be getting together at Dick's and Weevil should be there and I know he'd love to see you."

"Oh, ok." Now she was the one that was starting to feel frantic.

"I'll be back tomorrow and then I think several us are probably going to go to Growlers tomorrow night, so maybe we could meet up there and talk. I've got several more meetings tomorrow and will probably be busy until the evening anyway. You really should go and check out Dick's club. It will be a lot of fun. Sorry, I'm getting called into the next meeting now. Hopefully I'll talk to you tomorrow night at the club, otherwise I'll see you at 10 on Saturday. Bye."

Veronica said goodbye, although she thought he may have hung up before she actually finished saying it. She sat staring at the phone after the call was disconnected. She didn't imagine the life of the Mayor to be so fast paced and demanding. And then of course there was the whole, going to LA tonight with Alexis and not coming back until tomorrow that didn't sit so well with her either.

Veronica called Mac about the plans for the evening. "So I was told that I should crash Dick's poker night," she teased when Mac answered.

"You definitely should!" She cheerily replied. "I'm so excited for you to see our place too." Then she jokingly added, "I can't wait for you to give me that 'you've lost your mind living the 09er lifestyle' look again." Veronica laughed heartily at that.

"Usually the guys have the poker game at Logan's, but since he's out of town, Dick volunteered to have it at our place. I'll be sure to have Weevil bring Carmen and Elijah along too. Usually us ladies don't get together for poker night, but we can have our own fun to welcome you back to town. I'll see if Cora wants to come with Wallace too."

"That would be great." Anything to keep my mind off Logan and Alexis in LA, she thought to herself.

"John Enbom and Luke Halderman might be coming too, but I don't really know their girlfriends, so we'll just stick to the four of us. Sometimes Leo joins them as well if he's not working, but I don't know if he's going to make it this week. He stays so busy with work." As they finished the call, they decided Veronica would come early so she could have dinner with them before the others came for the poker game.

Mac and Dick's house was smaller than the mansions that Dick and Logan had lived in when they were younger, but it was still much larger than a normal house and extravagantly furnished. It was located on the beach, which may have been why it was smaller than the other estates they had grown up in. It had the basics she would have expected for an adult 09er home, including a theatre style media room, work out room, state of the art kitchen and an elegantly decorated living room. Mac of course had her own office which was filled with state of the art computer equipment. There was one room that Mac just described as Dick's Man Cave. It had a poker table, pool table and ping pong table, as well as couches set up in front of two giant TVs with game consoles hooked up to both of them. They also had a swimming pool and hot tub out back that faced the ocean, with a small pool house located near them. Veronica also noticed a small sunroom near the pool that had an extensive collection of surf boards and other ocean toys.

Of course Veronica couldn't help but laugh at Mac again and teased her relentlessly about living the life of an 09'er now. Mac took her teasing in fun, since she sort of brought it upon herself with the earlier comment on the phone.

"It definitely took some getting used to when I first moved in with Dick. Hey at least we don't have any full time maids or butlers… yet. Although we do have a wonderful lady that comes in at least once a week to clean and sometimes she'll help me with preparing meals, especially if we're having a large party."

Dick had been busy in the kitchen when Veronica arrived, preparing some chicken and veggie patties to grill up for them to eat. After the tour, Mac and Veronica returned to the kitchen to help put together the rest of the meal. Veronica still felt like she was in some sort of bizzaro world with the two of them being a couple. Though she had to admit they were very comfortable with each other and it was almost cute to watch them give each other little kisses and looks. She was just having a hard time with the reality that one of the parties in this relationship was Dick Casablancas.

While Dick was out grilling the chicken, veggie patties, some vegetables and bread on the BBQ, Veronica offhandedly commented to Mac about Logan's last minute trip to LA.

Mac sympathized with her and said she wasn't surprised. "Alexis always seems to wrangle Logan into last minute events like that. From what I've learned doing consulting work down at City Hall, they are all a pretty close group and it seems like the men have some sort of unspoken agreement that they make sure the ladies have a male escort when they attend out of town benefits and meetings."

She paused and thought about it for a bit, "I guess in some ways that could be considered a little chivalrous, but I still think Alexis takes advantage of it to keep some level of control over Logan's life. It's definitely not the first time that the guy who was supposed to be going instead had a last minute reason to cancel."

Veronica sighed and went back to chopping the cucumbers that she was working on for their salad. From all that Mac had told her so far about Alexis, she was disliking her more and more. She was also even more curious about what had happened to end their engagement. While she thought that would probably be a good topic to try to work into conversation during the 12 hours she'd be with him on Saturday, she wasn't sure the best way to approach it either. It seemed he'd been pretty tight lipped about it if Dick didn't even know. She also still couldn't help but wonder how strong Logan's feelings toward Alexis were and if he was hoping they might still reconcile at some point.

Weevil and Carmen, were the first of the poker group to arrive. Carmen apologized that they hadn't brought their son Elijah along, but she was looking forward to a night hanging out with the ladies and not chasing around after a toddler. As soon as Veronica had finished giving Weevil a hug, Carmen dragged her to a couch to sit down and showed her adorable pictures of Weevil and Elijah. Veronica gave Weevil a teasing look and he just rolled his eyes and asked Dick for a beer.

When Carmen finished with the pictures, Veronica snuck back into the kitchen where Weevil and Dick were talking. Carmen was getting a bit too deep into baby-related conversation for her liking, so she was glad Mac had been there too and seemed to be more engaged in the topic. Although that brought up an entirely different set of worries for Veronica, Mac and babies. As she was joining the guys in the kitchen, Dick said he needed to take some refreshments to the Man Cave, leaving Veronica and Weevil alone.

"How's it feel to be back V?" Weevil asked with a teasing grin on his face.

"Honestly, sometimes it feels like I stepped into some strange twilight zone version of Neptune. I mean, Mac and Dick engaged? That was a shocker. I can't say I'm terribly shocked you and Carmen are together though, a little surprised about all the baby making, but that's not really all that far fetched either. Now a Dick Casablancas spawn, that's going to give me nightmares the day they spring that on me. Mac was a little to eager to talk about babies with Carmen." She visibly shivered and shook her head.

"And the Mayor?"

"Yeah, that was a huge surprise."

"He's really grown up a lot V. I almost hate to admit this, especially to you, but I'm actually really grateful to him for helping me to get my job at the city. The pay and benefits are so much better than what I had been making at Hearst as a lowly janitorial worker. It's crazy to think that we are actually sort of friends now isn't it?"

"Yep, just one more Neptune bizzaro world reality I've uncovered."

"He mentioned you've seen Casey Gant a couple times."

Veronica smiled and shook her head, "You two really are like a couple of Gossip Girls aren't you, come on, which one of you is Blair and which one's Serena?"

Weevil laughed and shook his head at her. "Come on, I just got to look out for my boy you know."

"Yeah, I'm going to add that to my list of things I never expected to hear when I came back to Neptune. 'Weevil Navarro looking out for the best interests of Logan Echolls.' It's official, the end of days are upon us."

Weevil laughed again before going to see if Dick needed any help getting ready for the game.

John and Luke showed up a short while later and were quite surprised to see Veronica, but both gave her warm welcomes before heading to Dick's Man Cave. Wallace and Cora showed up shortly after the other two. When the men all disappeared into the Man Cave, Mac suggested they pick out a chick flick to watch in the media room.

Veronica tried to not let her mind wander to Logan and Alexis, but the movie that they picked, '_Friends with Benefits_', didn't help her at all. Part way through it she whispered to Mac that she was going to go see how the poker game was going, and decided to just hang out and watch the guys play instead.

As she exited the media room, her eyes glanced out toward the pool, and she decided a bit of fresh air might help clear her mind, so she headed out the door. At first she thought she'd just sit by the pool, but with the ocean so close and the sound of the waves, she was drawn to wander out to the beach. There was a full moon out, and with some lights from their property illuminating the beach in front of the house, she felt safe enough out there alone.

She found a piece of dry drift wood that made the perfect spot to just sit and think. It was soothing hearing the waves lightly crash against the shoreline, and there was a pleasant breeze blowing the scent of the saltwater closer to her. After enjoying the peace and tranquility for a few minutes, her mind wandered back to Logan. While she couldn't deny that it bothered her that he was in LA with Alexis, the rational part of her brain tried to remind her that it was his job to attend things like this. His grown up Mayor job. She was really proud of him for what he had accomplished, and Alexis was a part of that, regardless of whether she was his ex or not.

Of course it still troubled her how comfortable the two of them were together. She had to face the reality though that Logan and Alexis had physically been a part of each other's lives for basically as long as Veronica had been before she left. And not all of her years with Logan been good times either, especially right after Lilly died. It shouldn't be surprising to her that if the two of them were friends for the last 7 years that they would be close, especially since they dated and had been engaged during a part of the time.

She took out her phone and flipped through her contact list, stopping when she got to Logan's name. She wished he hadn't been dragged away to LA so she could have seen him tonight. She pressed on the text icon and her fingers hovered above the screen. She wanted to at least let him know that she was thinking about him even if she couldn't talk with him. She finally typed, "Hope you're having a fun evening. I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night at Growlers." She sat staring at it for a few more seconds before she took a deep breath, hit send, and walked back to the house.

As she reentered the house, she continued to her original destination of Dick's Man Cave to see how the game was going. As she opened the door, the conversation stopped as 5 pair of eyes all turned and looked at her to see who had disturbed their male bonding time. She gave them a little wave, and they all turned back to looking at their cards, and the conversation slowly started up again.

"How's it going lil' bro?" she asked as she pulled a chair up near Wallace. He gave her an annoyed look and she wasn't sure if it was from the lil' bro dig, or if it was the fact that his pile of chips was noticeably smaller than everyone else's at the table.

"Want us to deal you in for a few hands, V?" Weevil asked as they were shuffling up for another hand.

"Thanks, but I wouldn't want to have to teach all you boys a lesson," she teased back. Weevil smiled knowingly. He still remembered that night at Logan's pool house, before everything went to hell with Aaron being stabbed, and how Veronica was cleaning their clocks at the table.

Watching the guys play and listening to their banter was a bit therapeutic and she appreciated the distraction from having to think about more serious topics. Although after a while she also couldn't help but get a little nostalgic about that same poker game at Logan's pool house, which made her start to imagine what this get together would have been like if he'd been there too. She was doing so well getting him off her mind when she first came in the room, but sadly it was only temporary. She glanced down at her phone to see if he'd replied to her text. No reply yet though. She really needed a new distraction to keep her mind off him and Alexis in LA, since listening to the guys play poker wasn't working anymore.

As expected, considering his position when she first joined them, Wallace was the first one to lose all his chips, so the two of them decided to play pool while the other guys kept playing cards. She was certainly thankful for something new to concentrate on. Dillon had actually been quite fond of playing pool and they would frequently go out with some of the other officers and play. He'd taught Veronica quite a bit of strategy and she'd actually gotten pretty good. She had fun taunting Wallace and then beating him. Of course the other guys had fun poking fun at Wallace for losing to Veronica, but none of them were brave enough to challenge her themselves.

She of course checked her phone several times through out the rest of the evening and when she arrived back at Keith and Alicia's. No replies from Logan. She locked up the house and climbed into the guest room bed. She laid there in the dark trying to turn off her mind so she could get some sleep. After 30 minutes or so, she heard her phone chime and quickly grabbed it from the bedside table to check it.

She smiled as she read the text from him. "Had my phone off at the dinner, and just saw your text when I got back to my room. It was fine, but these are never really all that exciting to me. I'm really looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night too. Sweet dreams."

She felt her body finally relax after reading his message and soon she was able to drift off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11 - Clubbing

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 11 – Clubbing (_not baby seals_)

Veronica decided on Friday afternoon that maybe some retail therapy might help improve her mood. Even though she'd felt better when she went to sleep the night before, she somehow found her self obsessing about Logan and Alexis again in the morning. The rational side of her said she needed to just let it go, but her irrational side was in fighting form this morning and the little internal battle was wearing her down.

In addition to being surprised that his trip was still bothering her as much as it was, she was equally surprised by how much shopping had actually helped brighten her spirits this week. Although she quickly realized that probably wasn't a great long term therapy solution given she was borderline being unemployed at the moment. She also thought cynically to herself that at least she was also technically homeless, so that was one less expense that she had to worry about. Thank goodness she had a supportive dad that she knew she could count on until she got her life sorted out again.

She found a new red dress to wear out for the evening, it showed off her curves in a much more sophisticated way than the almost tacky provocative number she wore to The Seventh Veil. It was still very sexy though, and the minute she tried it on and spun around in front of the dressing room mirror, she knew she had to have it. She decided to wear her hair curly for the night, with some of the front sections pinned back off of her face. She was also surprised at how much fun she was having this week getting dressed up to go out. She really wasn't sure what was going on with her, but it was a welcome change from dealing with her problems from the week before. Shopping and primping, she didn't expect those to be her choice of therapeutic solutions for her troubles, of course deep down she suspected it was more the intended recipient of those endeavors that was having the most impact on her. She was really looking forward to seeing Logan tonight and clearing up the misunderstanding about Casey. It would be nice to spend some time with him to erase the thoughts of Alexis with her perfectly manicured fingers all over him.

Casey picked her up at Keith's and drove them to Growlers first. Mac and Dick were already there and had added them to the VIP list so they wouldn't have to wait in line to get in. As she walked in, Veronica quickly noticed how nice the club was. In addition to large windows that looked out toward the ocean, there was also a large open deck that allowed people to get out into the cooler night air without having to actually leave the club. She had noticed on their way in, that there were tables under the deck that were used during the day for the café downstairs. There were large spot lights on the edge of the building that helped illuminate the beach and ocean beyond, adding to the ambiance. She was actually impressed with how much thought Dick seemed to put into designing it all.

Mac met them at the entrance when they arrived and took them to a reserved VIP area that was set up for them. She told them that Dick was in the back office, but would join them after a while and that he'd let the staff know that Veronica would be coming around asking questions. Veronica said she'd go and start talking with some of the staff then to see if they recognized Debbie from one of the pictures Casey had given her.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Casey asked as she turned to go.

"No, I'll be fine on my own here since Dick gave the staff a heads up."

"Okay, I'll get a drink then and wait at the table for you, but make sure you come and get me if you need any help." She gave him a grateful smile and a nod, and then headed off to talk to some of the staff.

Veronica returned a short while later to the table without any helpful leads. She sighed a bit as she took a seat by Casey. He quickly noticed her deflated mood as compared to her hopeful optimism when she first went off to ask questions.

"Hey, there's no rule that says we can't have a little fun and dance while we work right?" Casey asked as he extended his hand out to her.

She smiled and said a break from investigating would be nice and he pulled her out to the dance floor.

Mac was headed back toward the front entrance to watch for Wallace and Cora when she spotted Logan coming in the door. Her smile faded slightly when she saw Alexis with him. She went over to greet them, working hard to not show her dissatisfaction that Alexis was with him.

"Mac, lovely to see you, as always," Alexis greeted her cheerfully. Mac smiled back politely and said a quick hello. Alexis told Logan she was going to go get a drink at the bar and that she'd catch up with him later.

Logan quickly sensed Mac's displeasure, "Sorry, she insisted on joining me when I mentioned that some of us were getting together here tonight."

"No problem, it is a public club after all," Mac replied with a shrug, trying to sound like she didn't care, though Logan could easily see through her charade. He knew that Mac didn't care for Alexis, but appreciated that she always tried to get along with her for his sake.

Mac let him know that Dick was still back in the office talking with one of the club managers, and that they had their usual table reserved for them to use. Logan glanced out on the dance floor and caught site of Veronica and Casey dancing. His brow furrowed a bit and his smile faded as he took in the sight.

"I see her ever present shadow is here tonight," he said gesturing toward Veronica and Casey. Now it was Mac's turn to pick up on his displeasure.

She put her hand gently on his arm and gave him a sympathetic look, "Just talk to her Logan."

He nodded and gave her a small smile. "She did say she wanted to talk yesterday morning, and then I got swamped with work stuff, and just haven't had a chance yet." Being the third time he'd run into her and Casey this week though, he was starting to worry that the talking she wanted to do would involve her telling him that she was planning on dating Casey.

"Did you want me to grab you a beer or some other drink from the bar?" Mac asked with a compassionate smile.

"No, I think I'll stick to water tonight. You know nothing good ever comes from me and alcohol," He gave her a brighter smile, then gave her a quick peck on her forehead and headed back to their table.

As he walked off, Dick appeared from the back office. Once Dick reached her, he wrapped her in a big hug and gave her a passionate kiss.

"I see Miss Clingy and Manipulative has resurfaced," she grumbled to Dick once he released her.

"Personally, I always thought Veronica was more of a Miss Demanding and Bossy."

She gave him a little smack on his chest, "I was talking about Alexis, not Veronica."

"Come on Mac, she's not that bad." He smirked at her, "if you don't play nice, I may have to put you in a corner for a time out." Then he narrowed his eyes at her and his grin turned more leering. "Or find other ways to punish you for being bad."

She shook her head at him and gave him a little smile before she grabbed his hand and pulled him over to where they could better watch for Wallace and Cora.

Alexis had joined Logan at their table and was sitting next to him when Veronica and Casey made it back. The three friends said a brief hello, and then Logan introduced Casey to Alexis.

Veronica gave Logan a pointed look and asked if they could talk outside on the deck alone for a few minutes. He smiled grimly and excused himself from the others and followed her out the door over to a corner of the deck that gave them some privacy from other club goers that were also out there.

Logan smiled wistfully at her for a moment before speaking. "You look really beautiful tonight Veronica. Red is definitely a good color on you."

She blushed a bit and thanked him for the compliment.

"So I see Casey's here again tonight," He said trying not to show that it bothered him, but Veronica knew him too well to not see through it.

Veronica had to admit that a small part of her wanted to just let him continue to think whatever he thought was going on since he seemed to have arrived here with Alexis. She wished that small jealous part of her wasn't there, but the fact remained that it was and that was something she really needed to work on. She'd told Casey that she would clear the air though, and of course she knew it was the right thing to do.

"Logan, it's not what you think," She paused for a moment then explained, "I'm working on a case for him. That's why he's here and why we've been spending time together this week."

Logan's expression was a mix of surprise and relief. He asked if she could tell him what the case was about, and since Casey had given her permission to, she gave him some of the details. He was less than thrilled that she'd gone to the strip club with Casey, but was at least glad that she hadn't gone alone. He also wasn't thrilled when she said they were planning to head over to The Clover after a little while to check there for any leads. She told him that she hoped finding the mystery boyfriend would give her some direction to go with the case.

"Let me come with you and Casey to The Clover. I'd feel better if I could keep an eye on you there."

"Logan, I'll be with Casey, it will be fine."

Logan wasn't taking no for an answer. "I have a contact that can get us on the VIP list so then you won't have to wait in line. There's no harm in both of us going with you Veronica."

She sighed and finally gave in to his request, knowing that there wasn't any way to stop him from following them over there anyway. They agreed to stay another hour at Growlers to hang out with the others before they headed over to The Clover. When they went back inside to join everyone else, Casey and Alexis had gone out to dance and Wallace and Cora had arrived. After a few quick greetings, Logan asked Veronica if she would dance with him. She agreed and he took her to the opposite side of the floor from where Casey and Alexis were dancing.

"You really do look amazing," He told her as he grabbed her hips and pulled her closer as they danced to the music.

"You don't look too bad your self," she replied in a shyly seductive tone.

"So," she purred a bit more confidently at him as she danced more aggressively up against him, "Are you going to tell me what you have in store for our big date tomorrow?"

He laughed and shook his head, figuring out her game, and told her that she'd just have to wait and see. She pouted and took a step back and continued to dance. He laughed again and grabbed her waist and pulled her back to his body. He leaned closer to her ear and whispered "tease" before releasing her again.

She smiled playfully as they continued to dance to the song. Wallace and Cora came out and joined them for the next song, and shortly after Dick and Mac joined them too.

As Veronica took in the scene, she smiled happily to herself. She hadn't realized how much she had actually missed all of them until coming back home. Logan noticed her expression seemed to shift to one of happy contentment, and he gracefully grabbed her for a moment and placed a quick kiss on her forehead before releasing her to continue dancing.

After the third song, she said she needed to get a drink, and she and Logan excused themselves from the dance floor. He asked what she wanted and said he'd meet her at the table with it. He soon reappeared at the table with her drink and a glass of water for himself. As he sat down, Casey and Alexis also returned from the dance floor, with Alexis taking the empty space on the other side of Logan along the bench seating at the table and Casey sitting next to Veronica.

"So why haven't I met Casey before," she teasingly said to Logan, leaning in and resting her hand on his leg. "He's quite the skilled dancer. You were holding out on me Logan."

Logan smiled and shook his head at Alexis. She leaned over Logan a bit more toward Veronica on his other side, shifting her other arm so it was across the back of the seat behind him, and asked Veronica if she was enjoying her visit to Neptune. Veronica smiled and said that she was, and that it was really great to see all of her old friends again. Alexis smiled and moved her hand from Logan's leg, up to cup his face, squeezing his cheeks slightly and said in a playful tone, "Who can resist friends as scrumptious as these" planting a kiss on his cheek. Logan rolled his eyes at her.

"I think you owe me a dance, Mr. Mayor," Alexis said to Logan and grabbed his hand and pulled him up from his seat. "See you two in a bit," she tossed over her shoulder as she led Logan out to the dance floor.

"Wow," Casey said as they watched the two of them disappear into the crowd, "She's quite an intriguing woman. I get the idea that she's not the type of woman who ever lets anyone tell her no."

Veronica gave him a small smile and shrugged. "I only met her this week and I don't really know her, but I'd have to agree with your initial impression."

Casey could sense Veronica's discomfort with the situation and asked if she wanted to dance again. She said that would be great, and made sure that they found a spot close to Logan and Alexis. She did her best to look like she was having a good time dancing with Casey and that she wasn't bothered at all by Logan and Alexis. The other pair looked as comfortable with each other as they had at the ball, though with the music being different at the club, it provided Alexis with the opportunity to be much more provocative than she was at the ball.

After the song ended, Logan asked Casey to switch partners. He pulled Veronica closer to him so he could whisper in her ear. "I wanted to apologize for Alexis. She's really flirty, but we're just good friends." He looked in her eyes to be sure she believed him and waited for some sort of confirmation that she understood.

She looked thoughtfully at him for a moment, and then pulled him closer again so he could hear her, "But you use to be more than just good friends?" looking at him with a questioning expression. He smiled slightly and nodded. Leaning down to her again he whispered into her ear, "Anything you want to know Veronica, just ask OK? I don't want to play games or lie to you. Just remember that means that there may be some answers that you may not like, so think carefully before you ask a question. But anything you want to know, I'll answer." He stood back and looked at her for a minute, running his thumb gently across her cheek. He leaned back in again and added, "And I would expect it to go both ways, OK? I know sometimes that might be hard for you, but I'm hoping you'll try."

She nodded in agreement then a mischievous smile formed on her lips and she pulled him back down so she could whisper in his ear again. "Have you ever been with a hooker?" she asked and leaned back to give him a questioning look with her eyes narrowed but clearly she was playing. He laughed and shook his head, "Still No." He wrapped his arms tightly around her so he could playfully spin her around. Then he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Though it did cost me $6000 to get that extra dance with you on Saturday night, so maybe that should count." She laughed and shook her head at him, as a small look of embarrassment crossed her face.

As they continued to dance, she started watching Casey and Alexis as well. Casey seemed to be enjoying himself, which caused a devious thought to cross her mind. Maybe Casey could give Alexis something new to focus on rather than Logan. Guilt quickly hit her though, that she shouldn't sacrifice Casey, considering he was technically her client, just to throw a new boy toy at Alexis. On the other hand, all three of them didn't actually need to go down to the other club just for her to ask around about Debbie.

When the dance was over and they all headed off the dance floor, she pulled Casey to the side for a minute to feel out what he wanted to do.

"Since Logan's insisted he's coming along to The Clover, if you'd rather stay here and hang out with Alexis and the others, that's fine with me. I can give you an update later if we find anything. You seem to be having a good time here right?"

Casey gave her a little wink, "I'm happy to stay here and let the two of you handle the other club, but don't think for a minute that I don't know what you're up to Miss Mars. You're just lucky that I'm a really nice guy and I'm willing to be a great wing man for you."

Veronica laughed and shook her head at him, "Yeah, having to hang out with Alexis is going to be so excruciating for you I'm sure, but I do appreciate that you're willing to make that sacrifice for me." She gave him a sly smile and added, 'it looked like total torture for you with her dancing up against you on the dance floor."

He grinned deviously back at her and then headed toward the table.

A short while later, Veronica and Logan said their goodbyes to the rest of the group and headed out of Growlers. The clubs were located within walking distance of each other, so they headed up the sidewalk toward The Clover. Luckily it was a nice warm night, so it was a pleasant stroll with a light breeze blowing in from the Ocean. The two of them walked in silence for a short while, occasionally giving each other little glances and smiles.

After a few minutes, Veronica finally broke the silence. "So can you at least tell me what I should wear for tomorrow? You must have something specific in mind and I'd hate to be inappropriately dressed."

Logan thought for a moment then a wicked grin spread across his lips, "Actually the outfit you wore to the strip club would work nicely."

She rolled her eyes at him and bumped her hip into his as they walked. He chuckled softly as his pace was thrown off a bit by the impact from her body.

"Actually you may want to wear some long pants, like jeans, but bring some other clothes along in case you want to change later." Then he added with his voice taking on a different tone, as if he was an expert at fashion advice, "Layers are always a good idea when you don't know what you might be doing or ho

w the weather might change throughout the day."

She chuckled softly. "Anything fancy? Or more casual?"

"Casual will work." His gaze became a bit predatory as he jokingly added, "or we could just make clothing optional." She hip checked him again and he let out a happy chuckle.

She was still a little nervous about what he had planned, but was relieved that it was going to at least be casual since he had negotiated for such a long date. She couldn't help but think back to that long ago missed date when they were going to skip school and sail to Catalina. She had absolutely no intention of standing him up this time, and wondered what grand adventure he had planned for them that would take all day.

When they reached The Clover, she noticed he became very serious and rested his hand on her lower back as they approached the entrance to the club. She instantly recognized the moment he flipped into protective mode. The tension in his body was rolling off of him in waves and she could easily sense the change in his posture.

She stood up on her tiptoes and whispered into his ear, "Relax, it's just another night club, it's not like it's the River Styx."

He gave her a small smile, but still stayed very serious and on guard.

She decided she wanted to get into the club and get a feel for how things operated there before she started asking questions. She considered asking the bouncer at the door, but she sort of doubted Debbie would likely be a VIP'er, and she didn't want to set off any alarm bells by asking questions as they first walked in.

While Dick's club was all one story, The Clover had more of a warehouse vibe to it, with an upper level that looked down on the dance floor and the rest of the club. She led Logan toward some stairs that took them to the upper level to get a better look around. She needed to figure out the best strategy to get answers while not getting herself into trouble. Given that Dick owned Growlers, she wasn't worried about asking questions there, but here, she didn't want to cause any problems and get kicked out before she got any useful information.

She noticed some shady looking guys were guarding an area marked Private that seemed to lead to another area of the club that had private rooms that also looked out over the dance floor. She guessed if there really was some secret drug dealing going on, that was likely where it was happening. She watched the area for a bit and saw a few people being allowed to pass once the bouncer at the door checked a list.

She decided she'd start with the bartenders first. There were a couple of waitresses she noticed floating around the crowd, but most of the customers seemed to be going directly up to the bar to get faster service as there were quite a few staff working behind the bar. She motioned to Logan that they should head back downstairs. He kept his hand on her back as they went back down and she found an opening at the bar. She had a small wallet size picture of Debbie in her wallet and decided to try the "looking for a relative" approach.

When a bartender came over to ask what he could get her, she pulled out the picture. "I'm trying to find my step-sister here, but haven't had any luck. I know she usually comes here with her boyfriend. Have you seen her or maybe know her boyfriend?"

The bartender said she looked a little familiar, but he was new and was still learning the faces of a lot of the regulars. He motioned down to the other end of the bar and told her she might have better luck trying the bartender on the farthest end. She thanked him and nodded to Logan and they headed down to talk to the other guy. She gave him the same story and showed him the picture.

"Yeah, that looks like the girl who used to come in with TJ all the time, but I don't think I've seen her around much lately."

At least the mystery of BJ, TJ or PJ was solved as well as which club they were likely at.

"Do you know if TJ is here? Maybe he could let me know where she's at tonight since she must have had a change of plans at the last minute."

"Yeah, I saw him here earlier, but I haven't seen him for a little while. He'll probably pop back up at some point to get another drink though. If you want to hang out here at the bar for a little while, I can let you know if I see him."

Veronica thanked him and they sat on some stools watching the crowd. Logan was still tense and kept his hand on her back as they sat at the bar. She ran her hand up and down his leg trying to relax him a bit, and he gave her a partial smile, but was still on edge.

She leaned over to whisper in his ear, "This has to be better than a stake out at a seafood company."

He finally took a deeper breath and relaxed a little bit. He smiled and looked ardently at her. Then he leaned closer so he could whisper in her ear, his lips gently touching the soft skin of her ear lobe as he spoke in a deep lusty voice. "This is definitely sexier."

The look he gave her and the shivers his whisper sent up her spine made her want to just devour him right on the spot, but before she could contemplate the repercussion of just grabbing him for a heated kiss, the bartender touched her shoulder.

"TJ's down at the other end of the bar getting a drink from Danny. He's the one with his back to us now in the blue shirt."

Veronica thanked him and headed quickly down to catch him before she lost sight of him in the crowd. She'd grabbed Logan's hand and pulled him along quickly, since she knew he'd be pissed if she lost him on her way down there. She dropped his hand as they approached the guy, who still had his back toward them and was chatting with a tall blonde woman on his other side.

"Excuse me, TJ?" Veronica said to get the guy's attention.

The guy turned his body as he heard his name, and his eyes opened wide in shock when he realized who he had said it. "Veronica Mars?"

Veronica probably had the same shocked expression that she saw on the man's face as her brain quickly raced into overdrive connecting the dots. A copy of a background check popped into her mind, Troy _James_ Vandegraff, a.k.a. TJ.

"Veronica and Mayor Echolls," the blonde woman chimed in as well.

Veronica immediately felt Logan's hand come up and rest protectively on her shoulder. She was so surprised to see Troy, that she didn't even realize the blonde he was talking to was actually Molly Fitzpatrick.

Well, she thought to herself, something in Neptune is finally making sense. Drugs and Troy Vandegraff mixed in with some death and the Fitzpatrick's. Veronica wasn't sure what her next move should be though. She certainly didn't expect the trail to lead to Troy.

"Well this is quite a surprise," Troy said casually. "Like a little Neptune High Reunion. Go Pirates." Veronica and Logan both smiled and nodded their heads.

"How are you enjoying my Club?" Molly asked, a bit of suspicion coming through in her tone.

Veronica smiled sweetly, "It's really amazing Molly. Logan and I were just heading out though and I saw..," she hesitated for a moment deciding his alias was probably safer to use since that's what she said when she walked up, "TJ, and thought I'd stop and say hi before we left. I just got back into town recently and Logan's been kind enough to show me some of the new clubs that have opened up. Maybe we'll stop in some other time and play catch up when we have more time."

"Nice to see you both," Troy said with his familiar innocent smile.

Logan didn't remove his hand from her shoulder until they were out on the sidewalk, and even then he only dropped it back down to her lower back again as they walked.

"Well that was unexpected," Veronica said as they continued to walk back toward Growlers.

Logan remained silent until they arrived back in front of the club. "Do you want to go back inside with the rest of the group, or did you want me to drive you home? I would think they'd all still be here, we've been gone for less than an hour."

"Actually," she said with a look that told him he wasn't going to like her plan, "I do want to go up and talk to Mac. See if she can help me look into Troy. I need to get a better idea of what he's been up to the last 10 years before I contact him to ask him about Debbie."

A disapproving frown crossed over Logan's face. She could tell that he was trying to hold in his concern about her possibly getting mixed up with something that could be related to the Fitzpatrick's, but she still recognized that old familiar look even if he was trying to hide it. He only nodded and stood there waiting for her to head back into Growlers. She started toward the entrance, but before she reached the stairs, he grabbed her elbow gently. When she turned around to look at him, he finally broke his silence. His expression was more compassionate and softer than before. "You've found your mystery guy. Maybe you should wait until Keith is back to do anymore on this. You haven't really been investigating cases since you left 8 years ago Veronica. It might be a good idea to wait for a little backup for your first case."

She smiled softly at him and closed the distance between their bodies so she could reach out and touch his chest, "Hey, you were great backup for me tonight. If I promise not to talk to Troy without you or Casey, will you not worry about it and be ok with me continuing to look into it?"

He forced a small smile and nodded, but she could tell he was still worried.

"Thank you," she said genuinely. "I'll even reward you with an extra hour tomorrow for all you've done for me tonight." She smiled and winked at him hoping to get his mind off what they found at The Clover.

He finally let out a deep breath and she could tell some of the tension had left his body. He put both of hands up on either side of her head and leaned down so their foreheads were touching. "I'm sorry Veronica." She was a little confused about what he thought he needed to apologize for. Their interaction was certainly going way better than in the past when he'd tried to demand she drop something, such as the Hearst rapist case. "I know this is the type of thing you love to do, but I feel like I just got you back in my life and I don't want to lose you again. I guess whenever there's any hint of the Fitzpatrick's being involved with something, my default mode is to go a bit overprotective."

She smiled appreciatively up at him, "It's actually nice to have someone that concerned about my safety again." She placed a light kiss on his lips, which he returned just as gently.

Inside Growlers, Veronica found Mac and gave her an update on what they found. Mac said she could start doing some digging for her while she was on her date with Logan. Casey was still at the club as well, so she also told him that TJ was actually Troy Vandegraff. Since Troy was at Neptune High for such a short time and was a Junior when Casey was a Senior, he didn't actually remember him. Veronica let him know that they would do some digging on what he had been doing for the past 10 years and then would get in touch with Casey next week.

They stayed at Growlers for another hour, before she decided she was ready to go home and asked Logan if he would be willing to drive her since Casey and Alexis were still out dancing. She was pleased that Casey and Alexis seemed to be getting along well, or at least that Casey had kept her away from Logan once they returned. She asked Mac if she could let Casey know that Logan had taken her home, and they said their goodbyes and left.

When they arrived back at Keith's, Logan said he'd get the car door for her, and she waited for him to walk around. Once they reached the front door, Logan smiled down at her and said good night. Veronica briefly shook her head, then reached up and pulled his face down to hers to kiss him. They kissed for a couple of minutes, but then Logan stopped and backed away slightly before they got too lascivious.

"I'll see you in the morning." He said tenderly with a little wink as he waited for her to open the door to go inside.

She was a bit caught off guard by his new found self restraint compared to when they were on the yacht. She gave him a little bit of a perplexed look before she said good night and went inside.


	12. Chapter 12 - More Surprises

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 12 – More Surprises

At 10am on the dot, Logan knocked on the door at Keith and Alicia's house. Veronica chuckled at his punctuality. She wasn't sure why but she had butterflies in her stomach like she was going on her first date ever. She wasn't going to admit to him that she didn't know if the extra hour she granted him was getting added to the start of the date or the end, so she was actually sitting there for the past hour waiting for him just in case he came at 9am instead. She opened the door to find him eagerly waiting for her with a huge grin on his face.

He cautiously leaned forward to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She looked curiously at his feet after the kiss. He was wearing a nicely fitted button down shirt, and dark denim jeans, but on his feet he had what looked more like western boots than dress or casual shoes.

"Interesting choice of footwear," She said with a note of curiosity in her voice.

He smiled mischievously at her before he spoke, "Jealous? Maybe we'll have to do something about that."

She looked at him even more curiously as he asked if she had a bag with extra clothes ready to go. She pointed to the bag near the door and he reached down and picked it up to carry it to the car. As they walked down the steps of the porch she noticed that instead of the BMW, he was driving a fancy black Range Rover today.

As they reached the bottom of the steps, he reached out his hand for her to take, and she indulged him and let him hold her hand as they walked to the back of the Range Rover where he placed her bag. Then he walked her over to the passenger side, and opened the door for her. Before he closed the door, he told her that he had a present for her. She gave him a suspicious look and he opened the rear passenger side door and pulled out a fairly large gift box and placed it on her lap.

She gave him a questioning look, and then took the lid off the gift box. She laughed as she saw a pair of western style boots, similar to what he was wearing.

"Are you taking me to a rodeo?" She asked, then teasingly added, "because if you think I'm going to do some bull riding, I think you've got the wrong girl, cowboy."

He laughed and shook his head and waited while she took off the shoes she was wearing and put on the boots.

"How'd you know what size to get?" She asked curiously.

"Bowling, Freshman year at Hearst, Size 6." He beamed back at her as he took her other shoes from her to place in the back.

She laughed and shook her head as she watched him close the door for her. When he got back into the drivers seat he reluctantly confessed that he may have also double checked with Mac because he wanted to be sure he got the right size.

"Well I'm still impressed," she said as she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

As they drove to their mystery destination, Veronica was trying to guess what they might be going to do. Besides going to a rodeo, the only other things she could come up with were a cattle drive, robbing a stage coach, old west cosplay, working a shift at Frontierland and square dancing. He told her none of those were right.

After driving for a while, he turned away from the ocean and started driving a bit more inland. They finally turned off the main road onto a gravel road, and she noticed a sign that said "Windy Pines Stables".

"Did you buy me a pony?" She said in her excited little girl voice, matching her expression to her tone.

He laughed and said she was getting warmer, but that he didn't buy her a pony. They parked the Range Rover by a large barn and he walked around to open her door for her. A man in a short sleeved plaid shirt and worn jeans approached them.

"Morning Logan," the man called out as he got closer.

"Good morning Jim," Logan replied cheerfully as they got closer and shook hands. "I'd like to introduce you to Veronica Mars, Veronica this is Jim Tennyson."

She said it was nice to meet him, but still seemed a bit confused about why they were there.

"So Veronica," Jim asked, "Have you ever ridden a horse before?"

"Does a pony that goes around in circles at the county fair count?" She asked back.

"No," Jim said with a laugh. He shook his head at Logan and gestured for them to follow him back to the barn. In the barn there was a riding arena and 3 horses were saddled and tied up waiting for them.

Jim untied a horse and walked it over to stop in front of Logan and Veronica. "This is Rosy, he said, mostly talking to Veronica. "She's our mellowest horse and you should be fine on her."

Veronica shot Logan a very confused look and he just smiled back at her.

"Do you know how to get on?" Jim asked.

Veronica stared up at the very tall horse and shook her head, "Well I've seen people climb onto horses in the movies so how hard can it be."

"Logan, can you grab Lightning and demonstrate for her?" Jim asked with a bemused expression on his face.

Logan went over and untied a black horse that had a jagged white blaze down his face. He placed his left boot in the stirrup and quickly pushed off with his right foot to swing into the saddle. "Easy Peasy," he said once he was on top of the horse.

Veronica rolled her eyes and was going to attempt to do it herself, but given her petite size against the height of the horse, she couldn't quite get her leg up into position.

Jim chuckled then asked Logan if he would jump down and give her a boost.

Logan laughed back at him, "has Marissa gotten after you for giving boosts to the female riders again?"

Jim just shook his head and didn't comment and waited while Logan came over to lift Veronica up so she could get into the saddle. She pretty much had a death grip on the saddle horn for fear of falling off once he got her up there. "Relax Bobcat" Logan told her as he took one of her hands off the horn and handed her the reins. As he walked back over to Lightning, Jim came over and started adjusting the stirrups so they would fit her better. He told her she'd feel more stable once the stirrups were the right height for her.

"I told you she was a foot shorter than Marissa," Logan said in a scolding tone, "Did you not believe me, or were you just being a lazy ass and didn't feel like getting the saddle ready for her before we got here?"

Jim playfully flipped Logan off as he walked around to adjust the opposite side of the saddle. Logan laughed and jumped back on Lightning.

"OK Veronica, I'm going to have Mayor Asshole over there show you how to work the reins. But you shouldn't have to worry about much while you're riding because Rosy will just follow behind or next to Lightning, and won't give you any trouble."

Logan showed her how to nudge the horse lightly with her heels to get her to start walking and then how to pull back on the reins to stop her and a how to get her to turn side to side. He had her go in several small circle eights in the arena.

"Oh I almost forgot," Logan said standing up in his stirrups and reaching into his front pocket, "Here are my keys," he said as he tossed them to Jim.

"How long do you think you'll ride for?" Jim asked.

Logan thought about it for a few moments, and then replied that they'd probably be about 45 minutes to an hour. Jim walked over and grabbed a couple bottles of water and placed one in the saddle pouch of each horse and told them to have fun as he started to walk back out the way they came, leading away the third horse that had been tied up with the other two.

Veronica was staring at Logan with a completely dumbfounded expression. "Exactly what are we doing?" She finally asked.

"Come on Veronica, I thought you were a smart detective and lawyer. We're on horses, we're going horseback riding." Logan made a little clicking sound with his mouth and started riding in the direction that Jim had walked. He looked over his shoulder to check that Rosy was following him. Veronica still had a death grip on the saddle horn, with a terrified expression on her face.

"So all those years of wanting a pony, and you're actually afraid to ride?" Logan teased her.

She glared at him and tried to will herself to relax and not be terrified that she was going to fall off. "A pony Logan, not a giant beast of a horse!" she called after him, emphasizing the word pony, trying to justify her behavior.

Logan had her give Rosy a little nudge so she'd get up closer to him. They rode on a path that went west toward the ocean. After they had been riding in silence for about 5 minutes, Logan asked her how she was doing. She said she was doing fine, but he could tell she was still terrified.

"So, what about this is scary Veronica?" He asked in a gentle voice. He told her she'd be completely supported by her legs, demonstrating how he could stand up slightly in the stirrups and rock from side to side and nothing would happen. "You try it now." She took a deep breath and stood up, but didn't really do the rocking part.

"Just relax and enjoy the views ok?" He told her. She nodded and tried to relax and look around.

They were getting closer to the ocean and the views were actually really beautiful where they were. She was starting to feel a little more comfortable the longer they rode. It was actually peaceful listening to the crashing waves and every so often one of the horses would make a soft nickering sound. The trail they were on gradually led them out toward the beach.

"When we get to the sand, I'm going to take us out toward the water to where the packed sand is to make it easier for the horses to walk on, okay? Plus the sand won't kick up as much either."

She nodded her agreement and gave him a tentative smile. After another 5 minutes or so of riding along the beach, Logan reached down into his saddle pack and grabbed his water bottle. "Do you want a drink?" He asked holding the bottle out so she could take it with out having to reach for her own.

"No thanks, I'm fine." She replied still looking a bit tense.

"You know we can talk while we ride," He playfully teased her. "I promise you won't fall off just because we're having a conversation."

She took a deep breath and then thought of something to say. "How did this," she said gesturing at the horses, "happen. I don't remember you being captain of the Polo team or anything."

"Actually this happened because of Heather."

She gave him a confused look, obvious that she had no idea what he was talking about.

"You've met her before, short giddy little girl that was wearing your t-shirt when we ran into you in the elevator at the Grand. Remember?"

Veronica thought back for a moment and then laughed. "The song dedication!"

Logan grinned and nodded. "Then you also accused me of robbing the cradle when you saw her Monday night at dinner."

Veronica laughed even harder. Logan went on to explain that they had met when Dick ran off with her sister and got married in Vegas their freshman year at Hearst.

"We started playing on-line weekly video game tournaments after that first weekend that she got stuck at the Grand with me. Her parents had split up right before that and she was having a tough time with it. Her dad had basically split and she was feeling pretty lost and alone. She really grew on me and quickly became like a little sister to me. I eventually met her mom, because of course the weekly video game tournaments seemed a bit odd to her. Once she met me though, she felt more comfortable that I wasn't some creepy stalker." Veronica laughed and gave him a skeptical look.

"Yeah, I know." He shook his head at her. "Her mom was working full time and didn't have a lot of time to spend with Heather, and her sister wasn't always around either, so her mom would let me take her sometimes to do stuff like go to the beach or the boardwalk." Veronica was actually impressed that he'd built such a strong bond with the young girl.

"Quite a few years ago Heather said she wanted to learn how to ride horses, so I brought her out here to the stables and we learned to ride together. We used to ride at least once every couple of weeks for several years. But now she's a freshman at Hearst, so she doesn't have as much time for hanging out. Although, we still try to get together for dinner once a couple times a month, which is what we were doing when we ran into you Monday night."

A guilty look crossed his face for a moment. "What?" Veronica asked when she caught it.

He laughed, "I did say no lies didn't I?" She nodded and gave him a stern scolding look, though there wasn't really any heat behind it. "We actually were headed down the street to a sushi restaurant when her phone rang and I spotted you at the bar and I made her eat at Sparta so I could keep an eye on you and Casey."

She smiled playfully at him, "Yeah, I think her mom should rethink that whole, 'not-a-stalker' thing."

He laughed and shook his head in amusement. As they rode on, he also confessed that he was actually paying her tuition with the agreement that she has to keep her grades up.

"She'd really love to officially meet you sometime," he added. "Maybe all three of us could go to lunch or dinner some time."

"That would be really nice. And maybe she can finally return my shirt," she added with a teasing smirk.

Logan was glad to see that she seemed to be relaxing a bit more on the horse. He was relieved since he had started to doubt if this had been a good idea or not given how terrified she had been.

"Feeling a little better on her now?" He asked and she smiled and nodded. "Do you want to try riding faster?" That question was immediately met with her shaking her head firmly no. He laughed at her then had an idea. He led them up away from the water to where he saw some trees near the edge of the beach.

"Galloping on the beach really is fun Veronica, you might love it if you tried it." He jumped off his horse and tied up Rosy then had Veronica jump down to him. He went back and climbed on Lightning, then reached out his hand so he could pull her up to climb on the back of his horse. She first stood there with her 'no way in hell' expression, until he gave her a pleading pout, and she finally reached up so he could pull her up behind him. "Just hold on tight and I promise I won't let you fall."

He took them a little farther up the beach at a slow gallop, then turned around and rode back to Rosy. She had a death grip on him the entire way, but at least she didn't freak out on him and demand that he stop.

"OK, maybe that was a little fun," she admitted as she climbed back down and he helped her back on Rosy. "But I'm content to stick to the slow pace on my own."

They rode a little farther up the beach, and then Logan took them toward a path that lead up to a high bluff. There was a sign at the bottom of the path that said 'Private Property'.

"Is our horse back adventure going to include a little B&E too, or just trespassing?" Veronica teased him.

He chuckled and assured her that he knew the owner of the property so they wouldn't get into too much trouble.

When they neared the top of the bluff, there was a small house and she saw Logan's Range Rover parked in front of it, as well as another truck with a large horse trailer. Jim and another man were leaning against the truck talking as they rode up.

"So how did you like it Veronica?" Jim asked as they approached him and he went over to help her off Rosy.

She said it had been fun once she got over her fear of falling off. He chuckled at her and then introduced the other man as his brother, Rob. Logan thanked them as they were loading the horses up into the trailer. Veronica leaned against the Range Rover while she waited for Logan to get his keys back and finish talking with the two men.

As the truck and trailer drove off, he started walking over toward the house. "Ready for lunch?" he asked. She nodded and stayed at the SUV. "Well come on then, I don't have food in the car," he teased as he walked up the steps to the house and punched in a security code as he unlocked the door.

She followed behind him a bit puzzled, but curious as well. The house was relatively small, but very nice inside. The main living space was open, with a large fireplace on one side with a couple of couches facing it and a small kitchen area and dining table on the other side. There were some large built in bookcases along the wall with the fireplace that were filled with lots of books. The back of the house opened up to a huge deck and there were large windows along that wall so there was a gorgeous view of the ocean.

"Who lives here?" Veronica finally asked, as she started looking around the room.

"I do sometimes," He replied getting a rather confused look from her. It seemed to be located in a rather remote area, and while she was sure there were likely a few more rooms off the hallway at the edge of the main room, it seemed quite small and it was not some place she'd ever imagined Logan living at, well at least if it didn't come with room service.

He'd moved into the kitchen area and was starting to pull some containers of food from the fridge. He noticed her confused look, so as he started preparing their lunch he filled her in on the house.

"One day when Heather and I were out riding on the beach I noticed a for-sale sign at the base of the beach trail and we rode up to check it out. The house hadn't been lived in for quite some time and was in need of a lot of work, but I really loved the location and the prior owner had done quite a bit of landscaping to make it feel private. The beach below us doesn't really have easy public access since this is actually part of a private community, so I felt like it was a perfect get away that I could relax at when I needed to get away from the city. There's even decent surfing sometimes."

"After I bought it, I hired one of Weevil's cousins who did carpentry and construction work to help me remodel it. I even helped him with some of the work. Thankfully, Weevil's cousin turned out to be a really patient teacher and was more than happy for the extra help that he didn't have to pay. We finished it a little over two years ago."

Logan could see that she still seemed a little surprised.

"It must make the ultimate romantic get away for impressing your dates," she teased.

She noticed he got a bit embarrassed before he replied, "Actually you're the only date who's been here. Mac and Heather have been here before, but other than them, you're the only other woman who I've ever brought out here."

Veronica was surprised by that. "Not even Alexis?"

He shook his head and started taking their lunch dishes out to a table on the deck. He seemed to be thinking about how to explain it to her. "She's mostly just part of my life as the Mayor now, the public side of me I guess, and even though we spend a fair amount of time together, once we called off our engagement," he paused and looked at her to gauge her reaction. Mac had told him she told Veronica about the engagement, and she didn't look surprised, so he continued on, "there were some parts of my life that I never let her back into. I guess I wanted this place to be somewhere that I could get away from the rest of the world. And the only people who I have shared it with have been my really close friends like Dick, Mac and Heather."

"And me?" she said with a shy almost surprised expression.

He grinned lovingly at her, "of course you." He was close enough that he could reach over and touch her face gently, "especially you," he said and bent down to place a gently kiss on her lips.

She was completely overwhelmed by that revelation and could feel her body heat up and a fluttering sensation in her stomach. She smiled back at him and simply said, "Thanks."

He pulled out her chair for her and they sat and enjoyed the lunch he'd put together. While they ate he told a few stories of some of the challenges they had with the remodel and some of the things he learned while they were working on it. He promised her the grand tour later, although he laughed and said that would comprise of a small laundry and storage room, a bathroom, a guest room and a master suite.

"So is this the 'big lonely mansion' that Mac had teased you about on the yacht?" she asked with a curious look on her face.

He shook his head and then said almost sadly, "no I have one of those too, but I actually hate spending time there, and I try to escape out here whenever I can get away from the city." His lips perked up again into a small smile, "I've jokingly called my other place the Mansion of Loneliness and this, my Beach House of Serenity. That's why Mac teases me about it"

As they were finishing their lunch he caught Veronica yawning. He laughed and teased her that he was sorry he was being such a boring date. She assured him, it wasn't the company, it was just the late night at the club catching up with her and too much time spent trying to figure out Debbie's case.

"I understand," he said with a compassionate expression on his face, "do you want to take a nap when we are done eating? After a quick nap we can figure out what to do with the rest of your indebted," he paused looking at his watch, "8 hours."

"As long as you promise that the nap time will still count as part of my time served and that you won't tack on more time to offset it," she teased.

He laughed and promised that as long as she let him sit with her on the lounge chair on the deck while she slept, he'd count it. But if she didn't, then it was a no deal, which earned him a small laugh and a sly smile.

After the lunch dishes were all cleared, he asked if she wanted to change out of her jeans since the afternoon was getting warmer. He ran out to the SUV to get her bag and then gave her a quick tour as they walked through the rest of the house. There was a small room that contained the washer and dryer and had space to store some surf boards and other household things. There was a small bathroom and guest room on the same side of the hall as the laundry room. The guest room was actually set up more as an office though, with a desk and a pull out couch. He commented that since he rarely had anyone out here, he needed the space more for doing work than having guests stay over.

On the opposite side of the hall was a large master suite that also had gorgeous views of the ocean. There was a King Size bed and a large armoire and dresser. The suite also had its own bathroom with a fancy shower and Jacuzzi tub. One small trace of 09'er affluence she thought to herself when she saw the fancy bathroom. He said she was welcome to use any place to change. She returned to the bathroom in the hall and changed into a light pair of cropped pants, a tank top and sandals. He also changed into a t-shirt and shorts, and was waiting for her in the hall when she came back out.

They returned to the deck and he gestured to a large lounger that had a built in shade cover. It was situated close enough to the edge of the deck so they could sit in it and watch the ocean down below the bluff, as well as look back up the coast line. She wrapped her arm around him and snuggled up to his side resting her head on his chest.

"It's so beautiful Logan. I can see why you love getting away and being here. Thanks for sharing it with me."

He brushed his hand lightly across her head and then caressed her back, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Thanks for being here with me," he replied back.

Veronica closed her eyes and listened to him breathing and the sound of the ocean. She quickly drifted off to sleep with a warm contented feeling encompassing her.


	13. Chapter 13 - Truths

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 13 – Truths

When Veronica woke up, it took her a moment to remember where she was. She shifted up to look at Logan and he smiled lovingly down at her, "Hey there sleepy head, I see you finally decided to wake up."

She sleepily rubbed her face and asked how long she had been asleep for while she tried to get her eyes to focus properly again, trying to blink away the sleepy feeling.

"I think it was about two hours," He replied and brushed some of her hair from her face as he continued to watch her with that same loving expression.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she apologized, "I really didn't think I'd sleep that long. Did you fall asleep too?"

He shook his head, "I might have dozed off for a little bit a couple times."

"So you sat here for two hours while I slept? I'm sorry. That had to have been so boring."

He smiled tenderly at her, "I haven't seen you for 8 years. I would have gladly spent the rest of my 8 hours just holding you while you slept. I think one hour per year would have been more than worth it." He gently ran his hand across her forehead, slowly moving it back across her hair as he spoke.

She smiled up at him, clearly touched by his comment. "Who knew you could be so sentimental."

"Ah, Weev's tells me that all the time too," he said with a little smirk.

She nudged him slightly in the side and rolled her eyes at him.

"So what's next on your big secret agenda?"

"I was actually hoping we could just hang out and talk and then I'll cook you dinner in about another hour or so." Then he got a lecherous grin on his face, "Or we could reenact the yacht cabin scene?"

She smiled and held her hands out like she was weighing her options, "hmmm… hot steamy sex or stimulating conversation... how ever is a girl to choose."

His lips turned up in a salacious grin, "Well we could try combining them, but if Saturday night is any indication, your speaking skills seemed to be rather impaired by my phenomenal sexual aptitude."

She laughed, "Comments like that definitely won't work in your favor, you know?"

"You love it and you know it," he teased back then gave her a kiss on the forehead and a gentle squeeze.

"Maybe," she replied demurely.

"So can we talk?" He asked, his voice taking on a slightly more serious tone. He positioned his body so he could more easily watch her as they spoke.

She sighed, "I suppose we should, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, it's the mature thing to do." He paused then added, "It will make my therapist happy too."

She looked up at him to see if he was joking or serious. He gave her a quick smile and a wink, so she guessed he was just kidding, though with all the other changes he'd made, she wasn't sure whether he might be serious.

"So, as I recall, this hasn't always worked so well for us." She raised her thumb up so she could bite nervously on her nail.

He sighed and gave her a solemn look. "I told you last night, I don't want to play games or lie to you. I'll let you go first though, ask me anything you want to know." He paused for a moment then added, "I seem to recall someone saying to me once something along the lines of having the chance to come clean and get out any possible buried secrets before they surfaced unexpectedly." She sighed, remembering that conversation and still having doubts after how things ended up then.

He could sense her hesitation, "Seriously Veronica, I really do want to be able to be open and honest with you now and I think it's something we have to work on this time around if there's any chance for us to not implode like we have in the past." She nodded her head then sat thoughtfully for a moment.

"Well we already covered the hooker topic, so what else could there be." She said while trying to give him a naïve and innocent expression.

He gave her a look that clearly said he wasn't buying that. "So there's nothing that's happened to me in the last 8 years that you want to know more about?" he thought for a moment, then gave her a mischievous smile, "Or did you hide one of your secret little listening devices in one of my molars while I was sleeping before you left so you already know everything there is to know?"

"Very funny," she said as she gently jabbed him in the side. She took a deep breath and then said, "Fine, tell me how you became the Mayor." She wasn't yet ready to throw out the biggest landmine.

"Well you knew I was taking Poli Sci classes before you left, and some how along the way, I guess I got more interested in politics. Of course I had prior job experience with my week-long internship at the Mayor's office during high school, so I was sure I'd be a shoe-in." She chuckled softly as he continued.

"I really didn't expect to get elected, but decided there was no harm in trying. My opposition ended up getting exposed in a big scandal a couple days before the election, so the next thing I know, I'm the Mayor of Neptune."

"No," she said giving him a look of faux shock, "a scandal in a political office in Neptune, how shocking!" Her expression changed to being amused as he laughed slightly at her. She turned a bit serious again and asked, "And do you like it?"

"Actually I really do like it. There of course are some things about it that I don't enjoy as much, but there are other parts that I really do feel good about. I like it when I'm able to help make the town a better place to live, considering how bad it was when we were growing up here. I'm not saying everything is perfect now, but I think there have been some changes I've been able to make for the better." She was obviously very proud of him as she looked at him with a gleam of adoration.

"My turn," he said with a concerned expression, "what happened at the DAs office?"

She took a deep breath and scrunched up her face into a bit of a frown. "I was working on a case and I didn't agree with the DAs position on it, so I ended up doing a little investigating on my own and got caught. I'm on a temporary suspension while they decide what to do with me. In my defense, I was right that the woman was being framed by her asshole boyfriend. I guess I should sleep better knowing if I get canned, it was for a worthy cause."

"I'm sorry, Veronica. What do you think the final decision will be?"

She sighed again, "I don't really know. But honestly, I wasn't always that happy with some of the cases I had to work on. That wasn't the first one that I snuck around behind the DA's back on, it was just the first one that I got caught on. I guess that's why when you asked me how long I was staying for, I really didn't know. I'm not sure I want to stay in Neptune, but I'm not completely certain that I want to go back to Massachusetts either. I guess I just felt like I needed a break to sort things out and figure out what I want to do."

Logan smiled with a hopeful expression. "Well you know I'd love for you to stay here, but I understand your decision to want to try some place new too. Honestly if I hadn't won the election, I really don't think I'd still be here either. But if I hadn't stayed, then I maybe would never have seen you again, so I'm so thankful it worked out the way it did."

"I'm thankful too." She said in a soft voice as she looked at him affectionately.

For a few moments they sat in silence just gazing into each other eyes, in the background they could hear the soft crashing sound from the surf below. He smiled and ran his hand over the side of her head. "Your turn to ask a question."

She looked out at the ocean for a little while before she spoke again, "What happened with Alexis?"

He chuckled, "Honestly I really thought that was going to be your first question, but I'll give you bonus points for holding out to make it your second."

She sighed and poked him in the side. She looked back up at him to watch his face while he answered.

"I know Mac told you some of it right?"

She nodded her head. "Yes, but she didn't know what happened that ended your engagement."

"Yeah, I guess I've never actually told anyone all the details."

He sighed and looked out the ocean, then back at her. "She's so much like me in many ways, but unfortunately not in the one way that matters the most to me for that kind of commitment."

She gave him a confused look, not sure exactly what he meant, although she had her suspicions based on what Mac had told her.

"It turned out she wasn't able to be as faithful as I expected in a committed relationship." He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "The first time it happened, she said it was a huge mistake and that she would never let it happen again. It hurt a lot, but I forgave her after a little while and things seemed to be better than ever. Then it happened again. The second time it happened, I was actually surprised it didn't hurt as bad as I had thought it would and that's when I realized I didn't love her as much as I thought I did. It took us a little time to be friends again, but I guess because I didn't really love her as much as I initially thought it was easier to forgive her. Or maybe it was just the way that I did love her made it easier to forgive her. I don't really know. We've had a lot of good times together, and of course we still care about each other, but I know I could never trust her like that ever again."

"I'm sorry Logan." She couldn't help but think about her own mother with Jake, as well as what Logan went through with his mom and dad. "I know you were always faithful when we were together, you really do deserve someone who will give that back to you." She gave him a gentle smile and ran her hand softly across his cheek.

He gave her a small nod and smiled a little bit again. "Thanks for saying that."

"I can also relate. That's what happened with Dillon, though I wasn't quite as forgiving as you. I'm afraid I'll always be one strike and you're out about that."

"Yeah, Mac tried to warn me about her, but I kept giving her the benefit of the doubt. You know that old saying, 'love is blind'. I suspect it could have happened a lot more than I knew about, though when things ended I just let it go and didn't obsess over it. It was over and whether it happened just twice or twenty times, it was still over and I wasn't going to take that chance again with her." Veronica couldn't help but feel relieved about that. She had worried about whether he was still hoping to reconcile with Alexis, but given his confession, she didn't feel like that was a possibility she should spend time worrying about.

"Yeah I don't know if it happened before with Dillon, but once I did find out I immediately decided it was over and that he wouldn't get a second chance. Of course we weren't engaged either, but I had planned on moving in with him right before I found out. What a banner day that was." She paused and a forlorn look crossed her face. "I came home early from getting suspended from my job and caught him with his partner in our bed. After everything I went through with my parents, that's just one thing I'll never be able to forgive."

He gave her a sympathetic look, "I'm so sorry Veronica." He gently rubbed her arm and gave her a light squeeze.

"So I guess it's your turn again?" She asked cautiously.

"Yes, I guess it is." He looked seriously at her for a few moments as if trying to come up with a really hard question, then a playful smile crossed his face, "Can I kiss you?"

She laughed softly and then in a shy voice she smiled and said "Yes".

He started softly kissing her lips, running his hand up through her hair. They continued kissing and it quickly escalated from gentle to passionate. As he moved to kissing lower and lower down her neck, she finally spoke. "Isn't it my turn again?" Her voice came out breathlessly.

He paused for a moment and looked lovingly into her eyes and nodded.

"Hmmm…" she toyed with him before seductively asking, "what color are your sheets?"

He laughed against her collar bone as he placed more kisses there. "I'm not exactly sure what you call that color, maybe I'd better just show you." He stood up and scooped her up so she straddled him, continuing to place kisses on her mouth and neck as he walked her toward the door with her legs wrapped around him. As he reached the door, he set her down but they continued kissing as he backed into the house. They walked like that for a little ways, before he picked her up once again, spinning her into the wall of the hallway and spending a little longer kissing her, lifting her up to get a better angle at her lips to deepen their kisses. He pressed his body against her on the wall as he continued to kiss her for a few minutes longer.

He finally let her slide down the wall, and then he started walking backwards again, with her following him with a playful grin on her face. When they reached his bedroom, he spun her around so she was walking backwards and then he removed her tank top, kissing her newly exposed skin. He quickly moved on to unbuttoning her pants, and as they fell he stopped to admire her red lace bra and matching lace bikini. "Mmmm, you really do look hot in red," he growled as he ran his hands all over her body and the lacy fabric.

She helped him remove his shirt and then he took off his shorts, revealing his red silk boxers, "and look, we're a matching pair." She laughed quietly as he scooped her up and laid her down on his bed. He stood over the bed admiring her and leaned down to kiss her a few times, then stopped and reached into the nightstand beside the bed. He pulled out a condom and put it near the edge of the bed so he could easily grab it, then he climbed on the bed next to her and started kissing her neck again.

"For never bringing dates here, you seem awfully prepared," she couldn't help but comment, the slightest bit of suspicion coming through in her voice. Immediately as the words left her mouth she regretted letting her old insecurities surface so easily.

He stopped kissing her and rested his head against her collarbone and laughed. She could feel his body shake as he chuckled at her comment. He looked up at her and started playing with some strands of her hair as he gazed thoughtfully at her. "I bought them yesterday when I bought the food for today, and then dropped it all off last night before I went to the club." He said it in a low voice with a look of total honesty. "I'm sure I can get you a copy of the receipt if you don't believe me." A look of amusement had grown across his face as he continued to look at her while answering her question.

She smiled back and replied, "I believe you." Her expression was open and trusting. "Sorry," she added in a small whisper.

He replied by placing a very passionate kiss on her lips, and then went back to working his way down her entire body with his mouth taking in every inch of her smooth skin. Since they were all alone now, he wanted to do even more than Saturday's encounter and enjoyed taking his time, savoring all of her reactions to him. There was no reason to be quiet here and he took full advantage of that. He quickly found all of the spots on her body that would make her moan.

Veronica felt like her nerves were on fire wherever he was touching her with both his mouth and fingers. She had thought being with him Saturday night felt amazing, but as they continued now, she was even more impressed with what a skilled lover he had become. She had started to wonder over the years if maybe her memory of him had been more fantasy than reality, especially as time went on. But now being together with him again, there was no doubt in her mind that she hadn't blown anything out of proportion. He was even better than her most vivid memory of him, awakening feelings in her that she hadn't even known she had lost.

When they were finished and lying side by side catching their breath on the bed, she glanced over at him with a look of pure adoration and teasingly said "Woof!"

He couldn't help but laugh and rolled onto his side so he could run his hands down the length of her naked body again and capture her lips for more kisses.

"I think it's time for a tour of my amazing shower now," he said in a low seductive voice. He stood up from the bed and reached out his hand so he could pull her up too.

She paused on the edge of the bed, resting up on her knees, and gave him a gentle look of concern, "Logan, I can't make you any promises yet about where this thing with us is going. I still don't know what my plans are and I really don't want to hurt you if I don't decide to stay."

He moved back toward her so his body could press reassuringly against hers. He slowly ran his hands up and down her sides as he looked into her eyes with a look of understanding. "I know," he said in a low voice, "but I want to appreciate every second I have with you because I realize that you never know what tomorrow will bring, and while I wish this could last forever, I'm not going to lie to myself either. So instead, I'm going to focus on the moment and enjoy that instead of worrying about what may or may not happen next. If I treat every moment like it could be our last, then I know I won't have any regrets if later you decide there isn't a future for us. I regretted so much when I lost you all those years ago, I don't want to make that same mistake again." He looked carefully at her to gauge her reaction, "Can we just enjoy whatever time we may have until you figure out what your plans are and then go from there?"

She nodded silently, and captured his face with her hands and placed a deep passionate kiss on his lips. When they broke apart, he smiled back at her and took a step back reaching out his hand so she could follow him into the shower.

Veronica was quite impressed at just how luxurious the shower actually was. There were multiple shower heads and the shower quickly filled with steam. After several minutes of passionate kissing under the spray from the shower, Logan's arousal quickly returned.

"Ugh, hold on a second," he said, bolting from the shower, quickly running back to the bedroom, leaving a trail of water behind him. She laughed at him from inside the shower as he ran back in with another condom packet in his hand.

As he stepped back in the shower and went back to placing kisses all over her, she commented "We really should talk about doing something to make this easier if we are going to keep on doing this."

Between kisses he replied, "Whatever you want to do is fine with me... Just let me know and I'll do it… Anything to make sure you're comfortable and safe." After a few more kisses he added, "It may surprised you, but I haven't actually been with all that many women after Alexis, and I always used protection with them, but I'm happy to do anything that you want."

Veronica thought about his comment, as he returned to kissing and massaging her body under the spray of the shower. "Hmm…, if you hadn't been with that many women, you seemed awfully prepared on the yacht." She just couldn't help her suspicious nature even though she knew it sometimes got her into trouble. That, now combined with her cross examination tendencies, could really be a bad combination.

He laughed a bit before he replied "You probably don't want to know this, but I'll tell you anyway since you're the one going down this particular path of conversation." He gave her a mischievous look then continued, "I stole some condoms from the master suite when I first got to the yacht. I really didn't expect what we did to happen, though I can't say I didn't want it too obviously, but I wanted to be prepared for anything."

Her expression quickly went from thoughtful to obviously disturbed. "Ew, so that was Dick's condom?" she asked in a horrified tone.

Logan laughed at her, "It's not like it was used Veronica. Does it really matter what box it came out of?"

She visibly shivered then shook her head. "Let's never ever speak of this again."

He nodded and continued to push her body up against the shower wall to continue what they had been doing before he had to bolt to the other room. He added in a low teasing voice, "I told you, some answers maybe best unknown." He could feel her body tremble slightly against his as a small laugh escaped her lips.

As they finished and he reached over to turn off the water, Veronica gently smacked her self on the forehead, with a disturbed look crossing her face.

"What's wrong," Logan asked as he handed her a towel and began drying himself off with another one.

"I just realized that I didn't even think to go and get checked when I found out that Dillon had cheated on me. I was so preoccupied with the suspension, losing my apartment and coming back here, that the thought never even crossed my mind. I can't believe how stupid I was."

Logan wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead, "Don't worry, I'm sure it will be OK. If you want, on Monday morning I can call and get us both appointments with my doctor, unless you have one you'd rather go to in town."

She laughed gravely, "Wow, this really wasn't the type of conversation I was expecting to have on our first date."

"When have we ever been normal, Veronica?" He asked playfully trying to lighten the mood. "I'd better get started on dinner though, we can get back to our awkward health class talk later so you have some time to think about what you want to do." He gave her a little wink. "Meet me in the kitchen after you're done dressing?"

She gave him a small smile and nodded in agreement as he headed back to retrieve some clean clothes from his bedroom. She followed him out and headed toward the other bathroom where she'd left her bag of clothes. She picked up her discarded clothes on her way through the room and stopped to give him a tender kiss before heading out to the hall.


	14. Chapter 14 - Under the Stars

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 14 – Under the Stars

After Veronica changed from their shower, she returned to join Logan in the kitchen.

He looked up and smiled warmly at her as she came in from the hall. She walked over behind him as he was getting things ready for dinner, and wrapped her arms around him in a gentle squeeze, poking her heard around to see what he was working on. He awkwardly shifted so he could give her a quick kiss on top of her head, but kept working on the food prep. "Hey, would you like a glass of wine? You can enjoy it out on the deck while I grill our steaks. The sun should be setting soon, and you can enjoy that while I finish getting dinner ready."

She nodded and he grabbed a wine glass for her and opened a bottle of wine. As he handed her the glass she noticed that he wasn't having one himself, "I haven't seen you drink at all since I've been back. Do you never drink anymore?"

He shrugged as he grabbed a plate with two marinated steaks and gestured for her to follow him out to the deck. "I'll have a drink or two on occasion, just not all that often. I'll probably have a glass of wine with you when we eat dinner."

She took a spot on a lounge chair that was close to the BBQ Grill. He noticed she was still looking at him quizzically as if waiting for more explanation.

Once he got the steaks started, he went over and sat down on the lounge chair with her. He scooted her forward, so he could sit behind her, with her sitting between his legs, and she rested her back against his chest.

"Did something happen that made you stop?" She finally asked.

She could feel him shrug behind her, "Nothing specific really." She wasn't sure if he was hesitant to continue or if there really wasn't any more to it. He was leaning forward with his arms wrapped around her waist, and she set her glass down on a side table and entwined her hands with his, gently rubbing the backs of his hands with her thumbs. He leaned his head forward so he could rest it on her shoulder and placed a few kisses there and on her neck.

Veronica debated about pushing him more on it. There seemed to be more to the story than he was giving her. He'd been so open with her earlier, that she wasn't sure how much to just accept now versus insisting on more information. He was the one who had said he was willing to answer any of her questions, although a part of her felt guilty because deep down she wasn't yet sure if she could give him that same level of honesty. Complete and total honesty was still something she hadn't become much better at during the last 8 years.

She could easily imagine several scenarios that would lead to him avoiding alcohol, none of which were very pleasant. And of course there was his mother's problem with alcohol abuse. She certainly always worried about that with her and Lianne. "I promise I won't judge you for whatever it was," she finally said trying to be understanding, but still wanting to hear what may have happened.

He sighed deeply and then finally spoke, his voice was lower than before and a bit melancholy, "When you left and didn't come back to Hearst, I took a hard look at myself and realized how many of the horrible mistakes I'd made all happened when I was drunk. I just didn't want to be that guy anymore if you ever did come back. So I gave up drinking, at least in situations that could lead to me getting carried away. Eventually it just sort of became second nature I guess. When I became Mayor, I started to occasionally have glasses of wine at dinner functions and things like that." He paused for a minute, "No big skeleton in the closet, just self-imposed restitution."

Veronica turned her head so she could place a tender kiss on his lips. She nuzzled her nose against his and gave him a gentle smile before turning back to watch the sunset again.

A short while later Logan had their dinner all ready and they sat at the table inside to eat. Veronica was impressed with the meal, given the extent she'd mostly seen him preparing food before was taking the covers off the room service food at the Grand.

"So earlier…," she asked thinking of how to phrase her question, "You really haven't had many serious relationships since Alexis?"

He affectionately smiled and shook his head, "I'm glad you're getting in the spirit of asking questions. I may have to play catch up though as it's beginning to feel a bit one sided."

She gave him a guilty look. "I'm just kidding Veronica, it's fine." He looked thoughtful for a minute, "There were a few women that I guess were a little serious. I had a few relationships that lasted a couple months before they ended." All of a sudden, he looked like he felt a little uneasy. Considering everything else they'd already discussed, she really wasn't sure why he might feel uncomfortable now.

"Come on, this can't be more awkward than discussing my potentially compromised health status," she said to try to lighten him up.

He smiled at her then shook his head. "I guess since no one has bothered to ask, I hadn't really thought much about it and I guess it's just embarrassing how obvious it probably is."

She gave him a look of confusion, "Sorry, I'm not following you."

He let out a deep sigh, "Most of the women that I'd gotten somewhat serious about all seemed to leave the picture shortly after they'd meet Alexis and spent some extended time around her."

Veronica laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, I can't say I'm surprised about that. I think it's fair to say she still has some serious possessiveness issues regarding you."

"Come on, she's not that bad?" He said, more as a question than a statement.

"Really?" Veronica said with a bit of disbelief. "Well all I'll say is IF this thing between us becomes really serious again, I think we'd need to lay down a few ground rules in regards to her," adding emphasis to the word if.

Logan grinned earnestly at her, "IF", repeating her emphasis, "that happens, I'd be more than happy to discuss your rules of engagement."

She smiled shyly at him and shook her head. Was she crazy to actually want to try this thing with him again? She still needed to figure out what she wanted to do with her career given the uncertainty of what may happen in Massachusetts. She told him earlier that she wasn't ready to make any promises yet. She couldn't help but think about how things were always great with him when they would first start out, and then something always seemed to happen to tear them apart. She wanted to believe that they had grown up enough that they could make it work this time, but there was still a small part of her that had doubts. She hoped that maybe more time of getting to really know the man he had become would help her feel more sure of her decision.

He gave her a curious look and asked, "So how about you, I didn't hear of any other really serious relationships from Mac or Wallace besides Dillon."

She shrugged and shook her head. "There wasn't anyone else serious, really. I'm sure with all your special informants you probably know I decided to transfer to school in Virginia after my FBI internship, although I never really shared much about why with anyone. The official story would have been that I wanted to continue doing more work with the FBI while I worked on a Criminology Degree near by, but the real truth was that I felt like I'd messed up so many things back here that staying out there seemed like the easiest solution at the time. I'd basically lost the election for my dad with the evidence tampering incident, and then Piz and I had split up by the time that I went off to Virginia. I also felt guilty about how badly I had used Wallace to try to find out information on the Castle and I thought stepping away from it all was just the best thing to do. I decided I would make a fresh start out there, but my way of dealing with it was to throw my self into my school work versus actually trying to build a new life."

"I dated a few men while I was working on my undergrad degree, but there wasn't any one really special that came along. I probably used the fact that I was too busy with school as an excuse to prevent me from taking the time to invest in a relationship. Then I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship to go to Harvard and moved to Massachusetts. Once I started law school, there really wasn't any time for romance. After I graduated I got my job at the DAs office and moved to Cape Cod and really focused all my energy into my job to make a good impression so I could move up in the department. There were several cases that I worked on that involved the local police department, and that's how I met Dillon. It took him a while to convince me to go on a date with him, but I finally relented and we actually did hit it off. Of course you know how that ended up."

Logan sat and intently listened to her. He had known the logistics of where she had ended up, but had never heard the why before. While she didn't mention him in the list of reasons for not coming back, he couldn't help but assume he played a part in it too, but he certainly didn't want to dwell on that now if she didn't either. Like he had told her earlier, he'd rather focus on the present rather than dwelling on things they couldn't go back and change. When she got to the end with her fallout with Dillon he gave her a sympathetic smile and reached across the table to give her hand a comforting squeeze.

After they finished easting, she helped him clear the table and clean up in the kitchen. As he was finishing up, she wandered around the main room a bit more. "Hey, I just noticed you don't have a TV here."

"Your super sleuthing skills are almost as sharp as they use to be," he teased her.

She gave him a look of faux annoyance.

He laughed slightly and looked amused at her reaction. "Since it's usually just me here, I didn't put a big TV in the living room. I generally just end up reading out on the deck when I'm here, but after a couple months of no TV at all, I did decide to at least put one in the bedroom. It's in the big armoire that's in there."

He moved over to sit on the large couch and gestured for her to join him.

"So speaking of sleuthing, what are your latest thoughts on the case?"

She joined him on the couch and then looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. "I suppose at the simplest level, it could just be a case of Troy getting her mixed up with drugs, since I know he had connections to that before, and then when they split up she really did just handle it badly and jumped from the bridge, but something in my gut is telling me there's more to it than that. I trust Casey's instincts on it too since he knew Debbie for all those years."

"So you're next move is to wait and see what Mac digs up?"

"Yeah," she hesitated and looked nervously at her hands in her lap.

"No secrets Veronica, I thought you were going to let me be your backup until your dad gets back."

She sighed and looked at him again, "I just want to do a little surveillance once we know where he's living. Get a better idea of what he's up to before I talk to him about Debbie."

He frowned at her, definitely uncomfortable with that.

"It will be fine," she tried to reassure him. "I've got a great camera with a really high powered zoom, so he won't even know I'm there."

"Can I ask you a favor if you're going to do that? I know it won't really do me any good to try to convince you not to do it."

"Sure, you can definitely ask," she said a bit teasingly and emphasizing the word ask.

"Just please let me know when you're headed out to do it, and give me updates while you're out so I know your safe. Maybe let Mac put a tracer on your phone or something, that way if something happens we'll be able to get to you quickly. You've been gone for 8 years Veronica, and you don't know the town like you used to."

She looked at him thoughtfully then nodded.

"The Fitzpatrick's are still dangerous Veronica. Leo and I are trying to do as much as we can to take them down, but their influence runs really deep and it's been a struggle. He's been able to arrest a few of the group, but they've been pretty minor players in the bigger scheme of things. We haven't been able to get the leverage we need to completely put them out of business or take down anyone higher up in the family. Then with Molly working really hard to make her side of the business look legitimate at least, it's been even harder for Leo to get a good case built against them. Troy may not have any connections to them, other than talking to Molly at the club, but if he was supplying Debbie with drugs, I'd be willing to bet that they came from the Fitzpatrick's."

"Alright, I promise to let Mac track my phone and I'll keep you updated if it will make you feel better."

"Thank you," he said as he gently kissed her forehead and pulled her in for a tighter squeeze.

"Let's see, I guess I'd better check the time so I don't get in trouble for keeping you past your obligated time with me." He paused a moment, "Unless I can convince you to stay the night. I promise to make pancakes and bacon in the morning."

"Mmmm, bacon," she cooed at him and smiled slyly. "Now that's a very tempting offer."

She leaned closer and gave him a passionate kiss.

"So is that a yes?" he asked as their lips finally broke apart.

She nodded and grinned at him, "you know I can never pass up bacon."

"I actually had a backup plan," he said with a smirk on his face.

"Oh really, tell me what your grand Plan B was."

"I was only going to offer you dessert if you agreed to stay the night."

She laughed at him and kissed him again. "You are quite the devious mastermind aren't you?"

"Only when it comes to you," he sweetly replied and kissed the tip of her nose.

Logan asked if she'd heard from Keith and Alicia and how they were enjoying their cruise. That reminded her about what he'd said back at the Masquerade Ball. "Seems like you and my dad have also gotten closer while I was gone since you know where he's been without asking me and knew about his big milestone birthday coming up?"

Logan chuckled. "Don't forget I did steal away Wallace and made him one of my allies, so maybe he put in a good word for me with your dad and feeds me all the Keith Mars intel." He gave her an amused smile. "I've actually asked your dad to help me on a few things too over the years, especially when I became the Mayor. I think he might finally see me as a good influence now and not that reckless teenage delinquent I used to be."

He gave her a loving smile and added, "You know he was so proud of you when you graduated from Law School and got the job at the DA's office?"

She nodded and smiled, "Yeah he mentioned that one or twice." She grew a bit more serious and added, "I'm glad you were able to build a better relationship with him without me here to mess it up."

"Not that I was ever glad that you were gone, but I am thankful that he and I were able to move past all our bad history and get to what we have now. Especially when that meant I got to enjoy Alicia's delicious home cooked meals." He shot her a loving look, "I still would have taken you being here over her fried chicken and apple pie though."

"Mmmm pie… so speaking of dessert, watcha got?" He couldn't help but laugh at her quick change of topic at the mention of food.

He headed to the kitchen with her trailing right behind him like an excited little puppy. He started pulling everything out and in no time he had warmed up two large brownies, covered them with vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce and they took the bowls out to the deck to enjoy. They took a seat on one of the large lounge chairs where they could look up and see the stars while they listened to the waves crashing on the beach below them. There was still a very full moon, and it helped light up the deck. He had turned off most of the lights inside so they would have a better view of the night sky above them. Once they finished their desserts, he took their bowls and set them on the table beside him.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to his chest. He sighed contently and whispered in her ear, "You have no idea how many times I've sat out here watching the stars wondering how you were and wishing you were here with me."

She swallowed a slight lump she felt in her throat and stroked her hand along his face. She moved so she could straddle his lap and started placing soft kisses on his lips and gently ran her hand through his hair. He ran his hand up under her shirt and then up and down her back while he deepened the kiss and pulled her closer. Their kisses became more passionate as each second passed.

She brought her face close to the side of his head and whispered in his ear, "I want you to make love to me out here under the stars."

He grinned lovingly at her and gently brushed some loose strands of hair back off her face. He sighed contently and said "don't move I'll be right back." She chuckled as he popped up and dashed through the house back to his bedroom.

"I'm sorry," he said when he returned. "I obviously need to be more prepared around a sex vixen like yourself. Now where were we?"

He sat back down on the lounge chair and she climbed back on his lap. She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment then said, "Sorry the moment's passed." She could only keep her serious face for a few seconds though when she saw the look of utter disappointment flash across his face. "I'm just kidding," she whispered in his ear as she ran her tongue along the edge of his ear and then nipped slightly on his earlobe.

He groaned as she sucked on his neck right below his ear, then she reached down and pulled his shirt over his head. She looked hungrily at him, taking time to run her hands across his abs and up his chest, before she reached down and took her own shirt off for him. His gaze became heated as he ran his fingers along the lace of her bra. His mouth quickly moved to follow the pattern that his fingers had just traveled. He grinned as he caught sight of the fading mark he'd left on her the prior Saturday.

"Maybe you need a refresher on the other side," he said has he moved his head above her left breast. She arched her back into him as he left another mark on the opposite side. He ran his hands up her thighs under the skirt she had put on before dinner as she started to move steadily against him. He found the zipper to her skirt and unzipped it, which made it so he could easily lift it up over her petite frame. He took another moment to just admire her.

"You are so beautiful Veronica," He said as he ran his hands down her sides, along her outer thighs to her knees and then back on the inside of her thighs up to her core. She trembled softly as he moved his hands over her body.

She moved her hands from his shoulders down to undoing the jeans that he had put on before dinner.

He gently grabbed her wrists and shook his head, "not yet Bobcat," and he lifted her up off his lap, laying her back down on the lounge chair holding her hands gently above her head with one hand as he took his other hand and stroked it along her body. Then he went back to exploring every inch of her body with his mouth, tongue and fingers, enjoying every little sound he elicited from her. Paying extra attention to the places that had a stronger effect on her.

There was something almost electric about making love to her out on the deck where they could hear the waves crashing below them. There was nothing but the full moon and a slight glow from the house illuminating her body on the lounge and it made the moment even more beautiful. He slowly removed her bra and matching lace bikini, spending extra time kissing her skin when the material was removed from her body. After all the years of longing to be with her again, it was such a surreal experience each time it had happened since she returned. The sounds of the waves and being out under the stars seemed to have an effect on Veronica too, and he could tell her body was reacting more sensitively to his touch than before. After making sure she was satisfied several times, he finally removed his jeans and felt a warm sensation throughout his entire body as he filled her completely and heard the small gasps that she made.

Eventually he carried her back inside and they fell into his bed, wrapped together in each others arms. One of the bedroom windows was opened slightly, and the steady sound of the waves crashing along the shore drifted up into the room as they silently laid there in the dark. Logan nuzzled his face into her hair and ran his fingers in random patterns along her bare skin. Veronica's hand gently rubbed over his chest, lightly tracing the patterns of his toned muscles, slowly from one side and then to the other. She had her right leg wrapped over his, and she was gently caressing the inside of his calf with her toes. She couldn't remember feeling this content and happy in a very long time. It was possible that she hadn't felt like this since the last time they were together all those years ago. She couldn't help but notice that he felt different now as she was resting against him. There had always been a nervous energy about him, anxiety maybe, even when they would be dozing off to sleep. She had always wondered if it was a subconscious fear of losing her, like he'd lost Lilly and then his Mom, or if there was something else that had kept him from completely being at peace back then. But now that seemed to be gone and his body felt as content and at ease as she felt. Listening to the waves and the steady rhythm of his breathing, she felt her body slowly begin to give in to sleep.

Logan continued gently rubbing the small patterns over her back and shoulders as he laid there enjoying the feeling of her next to him. After a short while, he could tell she had drifted off to sleep when the little motions that she had been making with her fingers and her foot stopped. After a while, she made little noises that he remembered her making in her sleep all those years ago. Having her there with him filled a hole within him that he had tried for so long to pretend didn't exist. He realized he hadn't ever really felt this complete since he lost her, not even with Alexis. He gently kissed her forehead and softly whispered, "I love you Veronica," before he fell asleep as well.


	15. Chapter 15 - Evidence

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

_**A/N - I wanted to leave a quick little thank you for 'Dani' who's been leaving comments on every chapter. :) I can't reply to you directly since you don't have an account, so thought if I got ahead of you hopefully you'd see it. Thank you! I love reviews and appreciate that you've left one about every chapter.**_

Chapter 15 - Evidence

After a leisurely morning at Logan's beach house, they headed back into town and grabbed some lunch before he dropped her back at Keith's. She really wanted to see if Mac had any luck getting information on Troy, so she gave her a call once she got home.

"Hey Q, did you have any luck while I was gone yesterday?"

"Of course, was there ever a doubt?" Mac teased back, but Veronica could sense there seemed to be something off about her tone.

"Why don't you come over and we can talk in person and I can show you what I uncovered. We can have dinner here again afterwards too if you'd like, unless you have some other big plans."

Veronica said that sounded great and that she'd see her in a little while.

Veronica thought Mac sounded a bit stressed about it when she was on the phone, but it was even more apparent when she got to the house. They went back to Mac's office and Veronica sat on a chair next to Mac's desk, as she started pulling up information on her computer.

"I'm not sure you're going to like what I found," Mac warned her before getting started.

"Let me have it, Q", Veronica replied, trying to diffuse Mac's seriousness.

"So I suppose I'll start at the beginning. As you know, he didn't end up at Hearst, even though you saw him at their school tour. Instead he went to a school in Florida called Rasmussen College where he got a degree in Criminal Justice."

"That's surprising," Veronica chimed in. Mac just nodded her head.

"After graduating, he ended up working for a Police station in a small town in Florida near where he went to college. He worked there for about 2 years, but then he was terminated."

"Were you able to find out why?"

"Yeah, I was able to get into their records to check on that. Apparently evidence in a drug bust case went missing and he was blamed for it." She paused, "and not the paperwork type of evidence, the actual drugs went missing."

"And we're back to not surprising," Veronica joked.

"There wasn't a whole lot on him after that though. He seemed to move around a bit, popping up in several different states. It looks like he mostly started working security for night clubs from what I could tell. A few times he was working through security companies and other times it looked like he was just employed directly by the clubs. It looks like he came back to Neptune maybe 9 months ago. He did get picked up with a minor drug possession charge a month after he got here, but since then I didn't find any other recent arrest reports. My guess is that he's working security for Molly though. He's deposited several routine checks that were drawn from The Clover's account and look like they are probably paychecks based on the amounts and frequency. He has a small apartment over by where you and your dad used to live."

Veronica sat thoughtfully, "I suppose it could just be a case of a poor sweet girl getting mixed up with a scum bag drug dealer and not taking the break up well."

Mac shot her a troubling look, "There's more."

Veronica's eyes got big in anticipation.

"I decided to see if I could find Debbie's car on any of the traffic cams around the time her car was abandoned on the bridge. I was able to hack into the system and they keep 3 months of history, so I could get to the night the incident happened. Since the police report had her license number it was pretty easy for me to write a script to cross-reference that against the camera files." She paused for a minute.

"And…" Veronica impatiently asked when Mac didn't continue.

"Here, let me show you what I found." She clicked a few times with her mouse, "here's a picture of Debbie's car near the bridge that fits with the time of when a 911 caller reported finding it abandoned."

She pulled up the picture. Veronica's eyes grew larger and she let out a deep sigh. The picture showed only Troy driving the car. There wasn't another person visible in the passenger seat or what could be seen of the backseat. Of course if she'd been laying down unconscious, or worse dead, in the backseat the camera wouldn't have picked it up. The similarities to Lilly's case came rushing at her for a moment. Once again it was a traffic cam picture that held the possible key to showing the case wasn't what the police had thought it was.

"That time of night, there isn't that much traffic on the bridge is there?" Veronica asked trying to piece the puzzle together. Mac nodded in agreement, with a bit of a worried look on her face.

"It's pretty easy to OD on Liquid X if someone were to take too much. I can't see Troy being an outright murderer, but what if it was accidental and he was worried about being implicated and made it look like a suicide and dumped her body off the bridge. He could have walked a ways and called a cab to pick him up."

Mac nodded again in agreement, "that's basically what I was thinking too when I saw him in the picture. I checked and there was a cab company that picked up someone within a reasonable walking distance of the bridge." Her expression was growing much grimmer by the moment.

Mac let Veronica sit quietly in thought for a few minutes, then she grimaced, "there's more."

"More? Did you actually get a picture of him dumping the body to tie this up nice and neat for us?" she said partly joking, but in a sadly cynical tone. She was really hoping the case would turn out differently for Casey and Debbie's sakes, although what that other outcome could have been, she really didn't know.

"I had checked Troy's cell phone records too, seemed like a reasonable thing to do, anyway. There's a number he calls occasionally and he called it shortly after you and Logan would have run into him at the bar. It could just be a coincidence though." She stopped and let out a huge exhale of breath. "It's a number for a disposable phone though, so I couldn't track an owner for it, but I do have access to some software that lets me send a ping to it and figure out within a reasonable range where it is if it's still on."

"And?" Veronica asked not sure what to expect next.

"I narrowed it down to the Neptune Sheriff's Office." She said with a worried expression on her face.

"I can't say if that's surprising or not." Veronica said with a confused look on her face. "I would hope with Leo as Sheriff that the corruption that had been there under Lamb and Vinnie may have improved, but since I've been gone all this time I really have no idea. Is it still on, or could it be an inactive phone that was in the evidence locker?"

Mac clicked a few times on her mouse and turned back to Veronica, "well it's still on, and it's still at the Sheriff's Office right now."

"With it being Sunday there probably aren't a lot of officers there, but it could also just be in someone's desk, so I'd hate to implicate someone who is innocent. We also don't know that it has anything to do with Debbie either. I suppose it could have to do with the security work he's doing, but you'd think that would go directly to the main police line and not a disposable phone."

"Anything else Q?"

"No that's all I have for you." Mac replied with a concerned look on her face.

Veronica took a deep breath and squished up her face, obviously processing all the information that Mac had shared with her.

"I still want to do a little surveillance on him before I make another move. Logan insisted I have you put a tracer on my phone though so he'll feel better about it." She gave Mac a look that suggested he was being way too protective. "I think I'll plan to do that tomorrow, follow him around a bit and get a sense for what he's up to and that will give me more time to think it through. If he has a connection at the Sheriff's station, and he's involved with the drug trafficking going on at the club, that could have bigger implications. I hate to even think of the possibility that perhaps Debbie found out he was up to something illegal and he killed her on purpose, but I suppose I shouldn't rule it out." Her face changed to a concerned frown. "I also don't want to tip him off if that's the case."

She sat quietly in thought for a moment. "Maybe I can figure out who his connection at the sheriff's office might be if there is one while I'm watching him and then I can talk with Leo about it."

Mac agreed that her plan sounded reasonable. "Oh, Dick invited Logan over for dinner too. I'm assuming you don't mind?" Then she teased, "You're not getting tired of the fettuccine already are you?"

Veronica blushed slightly and shook her head. "The fettuccine's actually even better than I remembered," she whispered to Mac. Mac laughed and pretended to be shocked.

When Logan arrived a short while later, he tried to sneakily kiss Veronica when Dick and Mac weren't watching. He had waited for them to go to retrieve drinks for them in the kitchen. Veronica chuckled, "I think the cat's out of the bag there Romeo. I guess it's OK if they see us kiss."

His smile grew big and mischievous and so instead of being sneaky, he grabbed her and kissed her while spinning her in a circle. She heard Mac giggle and Dick moan as they returned to the room.

After visiting for a few minutes, Mac and Dick went back to the kitchen to finish getting dinner ready, leaving Logan and Veronica alone on one of the couches in the living room. Logan leaned over and whispered to her, "don't worry I brought my own this time, so I won't have to steal one from Dick." Her face grew bright red and she slapped him on the chest.

"We agreed to never mention that again, remember!"

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist."

"Well I think I can find a way to resist you if you mention it again," she teased back, narrowing her eyes at him.

He smiled at her and then became a bit more serious. "So what did you find out about our case?"

She smiled back, "Our, huh?"

"You did say I could be your backup remember?" He gave her a slightly warning look that she'd better take him seriously on it.

She nodded and filled him in on what Mac had found out. His expression turned troubled. "Wow, I really can't see someone on Leo's staff being a corrupt cop though. He's worked really hard to clean up the department since taking over."

"Sometimes even the best people make mistakes when there's a lot at stake," Veronica said sadly, referring to Leo selling the tapes of Lilly and Aaron when he was a deputy.

Logan took a deep breath and nodded, knowing exactly what she was thinking of. "I think that's a bit different from knowingly working with drug dealers though. I think we should take this to Leo. You can show him the picture of Troy driving Debbie's car and maybe he can reopen the investigation."

Veronica shook her head and disagreed "I don't want to get Mac in trouble for hacking into the traffic cam database and if we take it to Leo, someone may find out even if he promises not to do anything."

"Veronica, I think I know Leo better than you do now. He'd protect Mac and make sure nothing would happen to her. Since we've started working together, he's become almost like family to both Dick and I now. I think Dick was even planning to make him a groomsman at their wedding. I really think we should take it to him and let him handle it from here."

Veronica wasn't convinced that was the best idea yet. There were too many unknown aspects to the case and she wasn't ready to go to Leo quite yet. She decided to buy some time, at least another day to do some investigating on her own. "How about you give me tomorrow to do some surveillance on him and then maybe on Tuesday we talk to Leo, OK?"

He very reluctantly agreed to give her one day to see what she found out. He was even less excited about her doing surveillance work now that there was even more suspicion pointed at Troy and the likelihood that it was not just a suicide.

"I'd feel better if I went with you while you're doing the surveillance work."

"I told you it would be fine Logan. I already talked to Mac about putting a tracer on my phone and I'll keep in touch with you throughout the day OK? Besides, it's harder for two people to blend in than just one. Don't you also have to do something else, like pretend you're the Mayor or something?" She shot him a teasing look.

He let out a frustrated sigh, but didn't disagree.

"I think I still have some wigs in a box at my dad's so I'll make sure I look different enough that even if he catches a glimpse of me, he won't recognize me. And like I said, with the high powered zoom, I can stay really far away while I'm doing it. Mac got the license number for his car, so I'll stick a tracker on it when he's still in his apartment, and then I won't have to follow him too closely."

Logan wasn't happy, but knew fighting with her about it wouldn't do any good, so he let it go.

Dinner turned out to be very entertaining with the three friends trying to out-do each other with ridiculous stories of things that had occurred in the 8 years that Veronica was gone. Of course Dick's shenanigans took top billing for some of the most hysterical ones that had happened. Veronica frequently felt Logan's hand resting on her leg under the table through-out the meal, gently rubbing her thigh, and they frequently caught themselves staring a bit too long at the other one, which would draw some sort of comment from one of the other two.

As it started to get a little late, Logan announced that he regrettably needed to get going since he had an early meeting at the office. Veronica said she'd head home too, so after saying their good-byes they both headed out the door together. Logan was still driving the SUV, and it was parked closest to the house, so Veronica stopped by it on her way toward the car she was borrowing from her dad.

She leaned up against the driver door, which was on the side opposite from the front of the house, and Logan quickly had his arms on either side of her head on the side of the SUV staring intently down at her.

"Have dinner with me tomorrow night?" he asked hopefully.

She smiled at him and considered the invitation. "Aren't you getting tired of me yet?"

"Never," he replied as he bent his head down closer to her and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She took the opportunity of his head being close to hers, to wrap her arms around his neck and deepen the kiss. His hands were soon on her hips as his body pressed closer and closer to hers and their kissing grew in intensity.

Veronica finally broke the kiss, her breath coming in small pants, "We'd better stop before the neighbors send a deputy out here to arrest us for public indecency." She glanced around pretending someone might see them. Even though it was now dark, their driveway was very well lit with their exterior lighting.

He groaned and kept his head leaning against her shoulder. "At least I'm friends with the Sheriff," he teased, then added "I do have tinted windows and a large backseat."

Veronica laughed and shook her head, "Oh that wouldn't be obvious to Dick and Mac, now would it!"

"Come on, who cares what they think, they're probably in there doing it right now."

"Ew," Veronica cringed, "that's another one of the never to be spoken of topics OK? I'm barely getting used to the fact they are together, please don't make it that much worse."

Logan chuckled and went back to kissing and sucking on her neck to distract her again. "Come back to my place then?" He pushed his hips against her, as his hands dropped lower to grab her and pull her closer to him as well. He continued to work on her neck with hot wet kisses.

She finally nodded, since she couldn't actually find the breath to speak. He kissed her passionately, then grabbed her phone and punched in his address in case they got separated on the way over.

He waited for her before punching in the code to his security gate and then parked in front of the house. Logan's house wasn't too far from Mac and Dick's, located on a beachfront too, but in a gated community. It actually looked to be slightly smaller than Dick's from the outside, but it was still a very large house. She pulled up next to his SUV and by the time she opened her door, he had already come over and grabbed her hand, pulling her up the front walk at a fairly brisk pace.

He typed in a security code at the door, and then opened the door for her to walk into the entry way. As soon as he closed the door, he had grabbed her around the waist again and pressed her up against the door, kissing her passionately on the lips and then moving his mouth down her neck to her collarbone and shoulders. He started working on the buttons that were on her blouse.

"Do I get a tour," she asked breathlessly as her hands tousled his hair and she arched her back against the sensual pleasure from him ravishing her neck and chest.

"Later," he whispered in her ear, his lips right against the shell of her ear as his tongue glided over the edge of it and he bit lightly at her ear lobe. "I had to sit through 3 hours of barely touching you, with glimpses of that sexy black bra you're wearing whenever you would lean a certain way."

He'd gotten all the buttons undone and had started to unzip the skirt she was wearing, and a second later she was standing in the entry way in nothing but a black lace bra and matching thong. He raised his eyebrows at her in sheer appreciation when he noticed she was wearing a matching thong. He fell to his knees in the hall way and spread kisses across the bare skin on her stomach and teasingly used his teeth to pull the thong off. She gasped as his nose gently rubbed across her body as he removed it. As he stood up, he quickly removed his shirt and then picked her up and kissed her against the door again. After a few minutes of ravishing her against the door, he carried her over to a large sectional couch that was in the nearby living room. He ran his mouth over the lace of her bra sucking at her through the material, before he finally reached back and removed it.

His sheer level of enthusiasm was making her even hotter, so she didn't complain about the fast pace he was setting and was quickly breathing as hard as he was and gasping for air. He quickly removed his pants, grabbing a condom from his wallet and put it on as quickly as possible as he couldn't wait another second to be inside her. She gasped out as he thrust into her, and after a few minutes he repositioned them so she could straddle on top of him. He tried his hardest to last as long as he could, but with all the pent-up frustration from imaging what he wanted to do with her as he drove back from Dick's, his body wasn't cooperating with the rational part of him. He climaxed first with her following right behind him.

She collapsed on top of him and they both laid there in silence just breathing hard for quite a few minutes. He ran his hands gently up and down her naked back as they slowly caught their breath.

"So this is the couch," he finally said, though his tone was still a bit breathless, drawing a giggle from Veronica. He kissed her lightly and she could feel the smile on his lips as they were still just lying there not really moving yet.

He reached his arm up over his head and pointed over his right shoulder "that's the kitchen," moving his arm to be more over his left shoulder, "my office is over there," he pointed to a set of doors that led outside, "that's the pool". She laughed and found enough strength to smack him lightly on the chest.

"Wow, that's either the best or worst tour I've ever had."

He waggled his eyebrows and replied, "I like the first option better."

They went back to just laying there quietly, still recovering. After about 10 minutes of silence, he finally whispered, "are you still awake or did you dose off."

He heard a small laugh, "nope, still awake, just basking in the after glow." She could feel his chest bounce slightly as he laughed at her as well.

"Want some water or something?" She nodded and he slowly shifted her off of him so he could get her a glass of water. He grabbed his boxers that were on the floor and she reached down and borrowed his shirt since her own shirt was all the way over in the entry way.

"I'll get it for you if you want to stay put," he offered. She shook her head and found the strength to get up to follow him to the kitchen. She finally had a chance to start looking around. The rooms were all tastefully decorated, though she had to admit it felt a bit less personal than being at his beach house. Something about big mansions never did really feel like home to her. She could understand now his comment about how he actually sort of hated spending time here, as well as the Mansion of Loneliness.

She could see the pool outside the window illuminated by dimmed outdoor lights. She couldn't see the beach or ocean though since it was dark and there weren't spot lights on like at Mac and Dick's house. She glanced in the direction that he had pointed to for his office as she walked back toward the couch with her glass of ice water and noticed a large dark wood desk and bookshelves also filled with books like at the beach house.

There was a set of stairs near the entry way that must have lead upstairs to bedrooms. She could make out another room on the main floor that looked to have a poker table in it, but that was all she could make out from where she was. He'd already sat back down with his glass of water, and she sat next to him and snuggled up to his side.

"I'll give you the grand tour now if you want," he said, noticing that she was already scoping out the rest of the house.

"You said you had an early meeting, I can go if you want and you can give me the tour another day."

"Actually, sharing a bed with you last night was the best I've slept in years. I think my meeting would go even better if you stayed." He gave her a little pleading pout and then smiled. Then he ran his hand tenderly over her head and gave her a light kiss on her forehead.

"If you insist," she said with a coy little smile. She was actually thinking almost the same thing, but having a hard time expressing it herself.

"Let me turn on the alarm, and then we can do a brief tour and end upstairs."

He slowly climbed off the couch, reaching down to pick up his clothes and set them at the base of the stairs to grab on their way up. He also picked up her clothes and set them neatly in a pile on a table by the stairs. He turned on the alarm, then walked back and reached out his hand for her.

"You've seen the kitchen and the dining area already." They walked closer to his office so she could glance in and look around. There were several other chairs in the room, in addition to his desk. They stopped by the doors that led outside, and he pointed out the pool and hot-tub as well as a structure off to the side of it that he said contained a workout room and outdoor seating. He walked to the other side of the living room and there were several doors, one leading to a small media room, not as large as Mac and Dick's but still could accommodate at least 8 people. The room that she could see the poker table in was similar to Dick's Man Cave, though Logan's only had a poker table, a pool table and one large screen TV with game consoles clearly visible in the cabinet beside it. There was also a bathroom near those two rooms.

They returned to the stairs and they each grabbed their respective pile of clothes and walked up the stairs holding hands. At the landing at the top of the stairs there were two guest bedrooms that he pointed out, but they didn't enter either of them. A little farther down was the door to his Master suite. It was of course much larger than the one at his beach house, with two plush chaise lounges in addition to a king size bed and dressers. There was a larger flat screen TV mounted on the wall, as compared to the one he had in the armoire at the beach house. There was also a luxurious master bathroom with a shower that looked really similar to the one at the beach house, as well as a larger Jacuzzi tub and double sinks.

He offered her a fresh toothbrush from a pack that he had in a cabinet under one of the sinks and they smiled giddily as they watched each other brush their teeth. When she was done, she wandered back out and climbed into his bed. He turned off the lights and crawled into bed next to her. As he reached under the covers to pull her closer, he realized she had discarded his shirt and was completely naked again. He let out a contented sigh and snuggled up against her. She wrapped an arm and a leg around him and pressed a kiss to his cheek before she rested her head on his chest and drifted off to sleep. He laid there for a few minutes listening to her breathing become steadier as she had fallen asleep. He couldn't remember a time he'd felt this happy in a really long time. He was trying to not get his hopes up that she would be here to stay, but deep down he really hoped she would. As he continued to listen to her soft breathing, he finally fell asleep as well.


	16. Chapter 16 - Revelations

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 16 - Revelations

Veronica woke up in the morning and stretched her body in the large comfortable bed. She couldn't help but notice how much more comfortable Logan's bed was compared to the bed in her dad's guest room. The sheets were luxuriously soft and the firmness of the mattress was absolutely perfect. Of course there was also the added benefit of Logan's warm sensuous body to snuggle up against. As her thoughts drifted to Logan, she smiled as she thought back to him waking her up in the middle of the night. A couple hours of sleep seemed to have recharged his batteries, and he had coerced her into 'christening' his bed in addition to the couch downstairs. She also remembered him kissing her softly on the forehead an hour or so ago as he left for his early morning meeting and telling her to sleep as long as she wanted.

After getting redressed in the clothes she had arrived in, she headed down stairs and found a note next to her purse. It had the code for the security alarm on it, in addition to a reminder to be sure to keep him updated if she was going to do any surveillance on Troy today. It also said that there was coffee ready for her in the kitchen as well as some fruit and muffins. As she sat at the counter enjoying her light breakfast, she couldn't help the urge to snoop around a bit. She told herself she wouldn't go digging too much, but would just casually explore since she didn't get much of a chance to really check out the house the night before.

She took her coffee mug and wandered into his office. She walked along the built-in bookshelves, running her fingers over the indexes of some of his books. She noticed that there were a few framed pictures in the office. A few of them were of him with Dick and Mac, most likely on vacation somewhere based on the backgrounds. She also recognized Heather in a few, now that she knew she was the girl she saw last week at the restaurant. Most of the others were of him and his mom, covering many different years as he was growing up. She noticed there was a stack of newspapers on the edge of his desk with several copies of different editions so she absently flipped through to see what they were. The one on top was The San Diego Union Tribune, followed by the Wallstreet Journal and the Neptune Register. It was the last paper in the pile that really surprised her though, a copy of the Cape Cod Times. She knew she'd been in articles off and on while working at the DA's office and was touched that he had gone as far as to get a subscription to a paper across the country to see how her career was going.

She left shortly after looking in his office so she could get back to her dad's to shower, change and pick up her camera. She pulled out a dark brown curly haired wig and some wide rimmed glasses to make her less recognizable. She had grabbed a tracker from her dad's office the day before, so she headed directly toward the address that Mac had given her for Troy's apartment. It was located a couple blocks from her old apartment and the parking was also situated away from right in front of the actual units, so it made it easier for her to put the tracker on his car without anyone noticing her. She basically walked by the car, and 'accidently' dropped the purse she was carrying causing a few items to roll out, and when she bent down to retrieve the items, she placed the tracker under his bumper.

She returned to her car, which was parked out on the street giving her a partial view of the parking lot, but a good view of the front of the apartments. She was surprised when the tracker on her phone app showed that his car had started moving, without her seeing Troy come out, until she realized that the ground floor apartments had exits out the back as well and he must have gone that direction since it was closer to his car. She was thankful for the tracker, or she would have totally missed him leaving. He first went through a coffee kiosk before heading toward The Clover. She took a few pictures of him as he exited his car and went into The Clover.

She had sent texts to both Logan and Mac before leaving her dad's so they knew what she was up to. Logan texted to find out how it was going, and she let him know that nothing was really going on and she was just sitting a block down from The Clover waiting for Troy to come back out.

It was getting close to lunch time and Troy was still in the club, and she debated about going to get some lunch as she really hadn't prepared herself well for this long of a stake out. She scolded herself for not thinking ahead and actually being so out of practice. She decided to give him 10 more minutes to see if he came back out and then she was going to go and just use the tracker to catch up with him later. As she was staring out toward the club, someone knocked on her passenger window, which scared her and caused her to jump. She looked over and saw Logan standing there looking in at her over the top of a pair of sunglasses. He was also wearing a baseball hat, trying not to be noticed. He was holding up a bag with a sandwich shop logo on it. Veronica unlocked the door so he could climb in.

"I thought I'd see if you wanted some lunch, since I had a break in official Mayoral business. I didn't mean to startle you though, although you did reach an impressive jump height." He smirked at her then mischievously added, "I like the disguise too, but you know I prefer blondes."

She narrowed her eyes playfully at him. "I'll let it slide that you scared me half to death since I'm starving." She reached over and snagged the bag out of his hand to see what he had brought. "There'd better be dessert," she warned him in a teasing tone. Her grin grew larger as she pulled out a big chocolate cookie. Next she pulled out a ham on rye and a bag of chips. She quickly unwrapped the sandwich and took a big bite, making happy little noises since she had been starving. She handed the bag back to him and he took out a turkey sandwich and started eating as well. "You seemed to locate me pretty easily," she added as she got ready to take another bite.

"Mac stopped by to do some work, and I convinced her to add the tracking app on my phone too," he said sheepishly.

She gave him a slightly annoyed look. The old Veronica would probably have blown a gasket if he'd tried that, but now that she was more grown up and appreciated his concern, she decided to let it slide. She could always have Mac disable it later if it became an issue. This wasn't really a battle she wanted to have with him in the middle of her stakeout. Not to mention the fact that she'd traced his cell phone during college and didn't want to discuss double standards.

"Fine, but with great power comes great responsibility, don't abuse it Mr. Mayor."

She knew he was expecting a fight about it, and she could see his surprise that it didn't escalate. He smiled knowingly at her and nodded while he took another bite of his sandwich.

"Did you want to get together for dinner?" He asked as he glanced down at his watch.

"I'll let you know later. I want to see how my surveillance work goes the rest of the day."

"OK, well stay safe and out of trouble, and give me an update later. I do need to get back to the office for another meeting in a little while." He leaned across the car and planted a kiss on her lips.

"Thanks for lunch," she said with a genuine smile as she watched him climb out of the car. He pointed to the door gesturing that she should lock it again and she smiled and did so as she watched him head back down the sidewalk a ways to his car. He had pulled his hat down low on his face again to try to keep from blowing her cover.

After another hour she finally spotted Troy coming out of the club and returning to his car. She thought she noticed a manila envelope under his arm, but it was mostly obscured by his body and his shirt. She snapped several pictures hoping she could get a better idea once she enlarged them on her computer.

Troy drove back in the direction of his apartment, and Veronica needed a bathroom break and wanted to stretch her legs for a bit, so she stopped by the office before going out to watch him again. She'd forgotten how boring some surveillance work could be if the suspect wasn't out where you could actually do the surveying. She really wanted to get some audio too and wondered if it would be possible to get into his apartment to leave a bug there. She wondered how compassionate the building supervisor might be and whether she could pull off a convincing act of being a distraught girlfriend who needed to get into the apartment.

When she parked near Troy's apartment again, she sent Logan another text letting him know where she was and that there still wasn't much going on. It was getting late in the afternoon now and so far this day hadn't really been all that successful for intelligence gathering. She noticed Troy coming back out of his apartment a short while later, this time clearly carrying a manila envelope in his hand without it being hidden under his arm. He got in his car and she followed him several car spaces back until he arrived at the parking lot at Dog Beach. Luckily there were enough other cars there so that she didn't look too suspicious pulling in and parking a few spaces back from him. She grabbed her camera to get a better look at what he was doing and to snap any pictures if he was meeting someone there.

As soon as he parked, he climbed out of the car, and walked with the manila envelop to another car parked a few spaces from him. Veronica couldn't get a good picture of the driver, but did get pictures of the license plate. Troy was only in the car for a few minutes, then got out and went back to his car, clearly without the manila envelop. Troy drove out first, and she waited to see if she could get a picture of the other driver, so she didn't follow Troy out of the lot. She saw the other driver bring a cell phone up to his face and then once he was done, started his car to leave. As he drove out of the lot she was able to take a clear picture of his face, although she didn't really need the camera to identify the driver as Leo D'amato.

Veronica's heart was pounding in her chest as her brain tried to wrap her mind around what she just witnessed. Leo couldn't be one of the bad guys. She was adamant in her refusal to believe that he could be. She was so deep in thought that when her cell phone rang, she jumped in her seat and gasped loudly. She looked at the phone and saw Logan's name flash across the screen. She reached out with a shaky hand and answered the call, still in a bit of shock.

"Hey I thought I'd check back in to see if you wanted to have dinner or not. How's the surveillance going? I could play delivery boy again. Maybe I'll even dress up in some cheesy delivery costume and you could seduce me."

Veronica's mind was still trying to process what was going on and her ability to speak was hindered, "Um… I…"

"What's wrong Veronica?" Logan immediately demanded through the phone when it was obvious that something was wrong. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, it's just…" Veronica trailed off again. How could she tell Logan over the phone that the guy he thought was helping him put the Fitzpatrick's out of business might actually be getting a payoff from them or working with them. At least that was the only thing that she could come up with so far anyway. She had theorized that Troy may be some sort of go-between for the Fitzpatrick's and Leo. Troy could be picking up money from The Clover to deliver to Leo in a secret meeting at the beach.

"Did something happen Veronica?" Logan was trying to keep his cool, but his voice was quickly escalating. "Talk to me please because you are really starting to freak me out."

Veronica took a deep shuddering breath. "We should talk…"

"I just finished up at the office, where do you want me to meet you?"

"I'll meet you at your place," she said her voice still sounding a bit under duress, but at least she was starting to form mostly complete sentences now.

"OK, see you soon." He said as he disconnected the call.

As she drove through town back to Logan's house, her mind raced through what she had witnessed and the facts of the case. Troy had been fired from the Florida Police Department for missing evidence in a big drug bust. Troy was driving Debbie's car and was most likely the one who left the car on the bridge. Debbie was not visible in the car, so may or may not have been in it, but her body hasn't shown up any place else yet, so the likelihood that she was in it was fairly high. Troy had placed calls to a cell phone that was at the Sheriff's Office when Mac traced its location. Troy was working for The Clover, or at least getting regular checks posted to a bank account from there. And now he was meeting with Leo in a beach parking lot and gave him an envelope that he brought out of The Clover. She couldn't seem to come up with a compelling alternative theory that made the situation seem innocent.

When she reached Logan's house and pulled up to park, she noticed he was sitting on his front steps waiting for her. He stood up and walked over to meet her as she parked. He was still dressed in a business suit, but had taken off his jacket and loosened his tie, with the top button undone. As she climbed out of the car, he pulled her into his arms and stood there holding her for a minute before speaking.

"Let's go inside and tell me what happened, OK?"

As she nodded, he reached out his hand so she could take it, and he led her inside. He could clearly see that something was wrong by the expression on her face. He closed the door behind them, and then led her over to the couch. After they sat down he turned so he could watch her closely. He brushed his hand along her head and asked, "Are you ready to talk or do you want me to get you a drink or something?"

Veronica nervously bit on her lower lip and shook her head.

"Did he see you or do something to you?" Logan gently asked, he couldn't image anything that would have spooked her so badly to explain her behavior, unless it was something really bad. He had been carefully inspecting her visually since she arrived and was thankful he didn't see any sort of marks on her at least. He gently brushed his hand over the side of her head again, hoping that might help to sooth her apparently shattered nerves.

She finally took a deep sigh and spoke, "I followed him from his apartment to Dog Beach. He was carrying an envelope that I'm pretty sure he came out of The Clover with. Once he parked at Dog Beach he got out of his car with the envelope and got into someone else's car, then came back out without the envelope and left."

Logan watched her carefully, still trying to understand what had upset her so much. He nodded gently, but didn't interrupt her.

"I waited for the other car to drive out so I could get a picture of the driver." She paused for a moment, looking at him sympathetically, which immediately made him tense up. She continued on, her voice a bit softer than before, "Logan, it was Leo. Leo was who he met with and gave the envelope to."

Logan's face changed to one of utter disbelief, "No Veronica, that doesn't make any sense. Leo's a good guy. Are you absolutely positive it was him?" She nodded with a forlorn look on her face. Logan exhaled deeply and turned slightly from her, resting his back on the couch. He slouched down a bit and ran his hand through his hair as he looked up to the ceiling. He sighed deeply and shook his head. "There has to be some logical explanation Veronica. Leo is a good guy. He's not being bought off by Troy or the Fitzpatrick's. I'd bet my life on it Veronica, he wouldn't do it."

Veronica looked sadly at him, her mind racing to find other possibilities. The only other one that she had come up with so far, that was even worse, was that Leo knew Troy had been responsible for Debbie's death and was blackmailing him. She certainly didn't want to share that theory with Logan though. At least after thinking of that scenario, she was able to come up with a similar theory that maybe wasn't as bad, in fact it was sort of the opposite of that. "Maybe he doesn't have a choice. Maybe they are threatening him with black mail or something." For a moment her mind flashed back to finding the pictures of her in a gun scope in her Mom's safety deposit box.

Logan just shook his head still in disbelief. "But what on earth could they find to blackmail him with. I don't think selling the tapes could still be an issue since that was dealt with at the time. I'm pretty sure that's the only skeleton that Leo could possibly have in his closet."

"It could be as simple as threatening someone he loves," Veronica said softly.

Logan leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees, moving his head to rest in his hands. He took another deep breath and stared down at the floor. He did know that Leo would do anything necessary to protect his family. It was even his family loyalty that drove him to sell the tapes to Logan back when he was in High School. Veronica moved closer and ran her hand soothingly back and forth across his shoulders.

After a few minutes of sitting quietly, Veronica finally spoke. "Maybe if I can get into Troy's apartment, I could find some evidence of what's going on, or at least plant a bug and see if we can learn anything that way."

"No way Veronica, that's too dangerous." Logan sat back up as he protested and cradled her face with his hand. There was so much fear and worry on his face as he looked at her and shook his head. "There's got to be some explanation that makes sense, but I don't want you to put yourself in danger like that. We'll wait for Keith to get back and talk it over with him."

She sighed and gave him a grim smile. She wanted so badly to keep going on this and not wait for her dad to return, but she knew Logan would continue to fight her on it. They had been getting along so well this past week that if she went behind his back now, she didn't know what he would do, but couldn't imagine he'd be forgiving about it. But she just couldn't quit either.

"I wouldn't go when he's anywhere near his apartment, Logan. Why don't I just monitor him for the next couple of days and see if there's a pattern to his schedule. I saw on the tracker that when he left the beach he headed back to The Clover. If he is working there, I'm sure he'll be there on a regular basis and I can get in when he's gone."

Logan was growing visibly agitated with her now and he dropped his hand from her face and clenched it into a tight fist in his lap. "Veronica, firstly… just no!" He was getting to the point that his anger was about to get the better of him, and he was having a tougher time speaking rationally, but he tried to calm him self back down. "And secondly, I don't think B&E is something you should even consider if you don't want to get disbarred."

"It's not B&E if there's no breaking," she said in a soft voice, more to herself than him.

"Veronica!" He reached up to her face again, turning her head to be sure she was looking directly at him. "Promise me you won't. That you'll drop it until Keith is home." He searched her eyes, praying that she would for just once listen to him and not have to do things her own way. When she didn't answer he dropped his hand from her face, and took a deep breath. Then he stood up and walked into his office, closing the door behind him.

Well that went fabulously, she thought to herself as she sat on the couch staring at the closed door. She quietly waited to see if he would return, debating what to do. Should she go in and try to talk to him, or let him cool down a bit first. She wasn't planning to leave, she was certain of that, but she wasn't sure yet how to convince him that it would be okay and that she wouldn't do anything dangerous.

She knew the only way he would be okay with it, is if he was there to protect her. She never forgot his speech to her in the quad at Hearst, about how he wasn't built to stand on the sidelines. She realized years ago that what he may have thought was one of the major problems with their relationship, his inability to stand idly by, was actually one of the strengths she loved most about him. Sadly it took losing him and many years of being without him for her to realize it. She never wanted to see that amazing quality of his ever change.

She'd grown up enough to realize that she couldn't really do everything on her own, and sometimes having a partner who had your back was really the best thing in the world. And Logan really was an amazing partner, more so now than he was all those years ago.

She took a deep breath and stood up from the couch and walked to the office door and knocked softly. He didn't reply, so she opened the door slowly and peeked in. He was standing looking out at the ocean in the distance with his back toward her.

"Hey, I thought this was 'our' case? I don't want to lose my partner on it now," she said in a soothing tone as she slowly approached him. "Can we talk about this, Logan?"

He still didn't speak, but nodded his head and as she approached him, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest and rested his cheek on the top of her head. Once he felt her body against his, he took a deep breath and she could feel some of the tension in his body ease.

"I promise I won't do anything besides watching the tracker unless you're with me, okay? I'll even back off on the surveillance work until we have a good idea of his pattern if that will make you feel better."

"Veronica," his voice was low and a bit shaky, "you know why I react like this right?" He pulled back to look in her eyes. After all those times of telling her how much she meant to him and that he would do anything to protect her and keep her safe, he hoped she really did understand. His telling it to her in the past never seemed to be enough though. Maybe if he made her be the one to explain it back to him this time, she might be more willing to believe it. He really didn't know what else he could do. He only knew that everything he had tried in the past never seemed to work.

She looked lovingly into his troubled brown eyes and nodded. A soft smile spread across her lips and she leaned up and kissed him gently. "Because you'd do anything to protect me and keep me safe. Even if I don't agree with you, because keeping me safe is more important than anything else to you."

He looked at her lovingly and nodded. He hugged her closely again and took a deep breath. They stood there for a few minutes with his arms around her, as he gently rubbed them up and down her back. She waited patiently for him to decide to end the embrace, so he wouldn't feel like she was trying to push him away. Eventually he did stand back, lowering his arms to her waist and looked at her with a bit less anxiety in his expression.

"So what was that earlier about a hot delivery guy bringing me dinner?" she asked coyly.

He laughed softly and shook his head. "We're not done talking about this Veronica."

"I know," she said as she leaned back and looked intently in his eyes, "but can we put it to the side for a little while and then talk more later?" Avoidance always worked well for them in the past, and while she knew they still needed to talk more about it, she was hoping that a little time spent on something else might help them deal with it better later.

He sighed as he studied her face intently, "How can I ever say no to you?" He leaned down and kissed her a little more passionately than earlier.

She maneuvered out of the kiss after a few moments. "Seriously, you've got to keep this Bobcat fed or you never know what might happen. I wouldn't recommend risking it."

He still had his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead. "Mmmm, a ravenous Bobcat. I sort of think that might be worth the risk." His gaze turned a bit more heated and predatory as he stared down at her.

"I thought you wanted your chance to woo me with a fancy dinner and riveting conversation. How will I decide between you and Casey if I'm not an equal opportunity kind of gal." she told him as her smile turned wickedly playful.

He shook his head and narrowed his eyes at her, "you really are an evil little minx aren't you?"

She nodded happily and reached up on her tip toes to kiss him quickly on the lips. "Come on Romeo, are you going to feed me, or should I call and see if Casey's free." She thoughtfully tapped her index finger on her bottom lip, "he'd probably like an update on the case, so I could mix business with pleasure and charge him for it."

Logan laughed, "hmm... charging a guy to spend pleasurable time with you… what profession does that remind me of… maybe I do need to rethink the answer to that question of whether I've ever been with a hooker."

Veronica flashed an expression of mock offense across her face.

"What are you in the mood for, Trixie?"

She silently mouthed 'Trixie' back at him and gave him a disgusted face. He shrugged and shook his head. "I guess if I actually did hang out with Hookers, I might have been able to come up with a better name."

"I'll let it slide. Hm… what am I in the mood for?" She looked thoughtful for a moment, "How about Chinese with a little bit of Mayor for dessert?"

"That can certainly be arranged." He was trying hard to push his worry about the case out of his mind, at least until after dinner. He also knew that as long as she was by his side, she couldn't get her self into any trouble, or at least if she did, that he'd be there to protect her.

Veronica asked if they could stop by Keith's before going to eat so she could change clothes, since she'd basically spent all day sitting in the car in her current outfit. He went up to his room to change out of his business suit as well, and then they left to go to Keith's. For the moment it seemed as if they were leaving the tension of the case behind, at least until they returned to it later in the evening.


	17. Chapter 17 - Ten Steps

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 17 – Ten Steps

When they got to Keith and Alicia's house, Logan walked inside with her. She set her purse and her phone down on the table near the hall, before walking back to the guest room. Logan stood awkwardly at the start of the hall as she continued back to the guest room. She turned and looked back at him when she realized he wasn't following her any more.

"My dad's not here, so it is OK if you come in the guest room with me." She said with a little smirk on her face.

"I'm good."

Veronica laughed. "I'm sure he doesn't have any hidden spy cameras if that's what you're afraid of."

Logan looked around the hall pretending to be nervous, "I'll just play it safe and wait right here for you."

"Chicken"

Veronica quickly changed into a new outfit that would work for their dinner plans, and then looked around the room thoughtfully for a minute. "Who am I kidding," she said quietly to herself, as she grabbed her small carry-on bag and started throwing some extra clothes and toiletries into it. At least when he insists I stay over, I'll have some clean clothes for tomorrow, she thought to herself. She really didn't have any burning desire to stay here all by herself either. She figured it was a bit late in the game to be trying to make a statement that she wasn't willing to stay over if he asked.

As she was leaving the guest room she heard her phone ringing down the hall where she had left it. Logan was still standing right next to it and picked it up to hand it to her. He couldn't help but notice the name that came up as he did, and he gave her a sympathetic smile.

She took a deep breath and made an unhappy face, then mouthed, "sorry" to him and answered.

"Where the hell are you, Mars?" boomed Dillon's voice across the phone. He said it loud enough that even Logan could hear it from a few feet away and instantly his body went extremely rigid and she saw him clench his jaw, as well as his fists at his side.

"I'm in Neptune."

"What the hell are you doing in Neptune? Come on Mars, it's been over a week. I thought you would have calmed down by now and we could work things out."

Veronica took a deep breath before continuing in a very defensive tone, "I told you when we first got together Dillon that there was one thing I would never forgive you for, and that was being unfaithful. And boning your partner counts as unfaithful Dillon. There's nothing to work out."

Logan was not trying to eavesdrop, but she hadn't actually moved away, so it was really hard not to. He looked down at his feet and grinned slighty while he enjoyed her feistiness.

Dillon was silent for a moment, and then his voice lost the sharp edge it first had. "When are you coming back? Maybe we can talk more about this in person."

"I don't know if I'm coming back. I may not have a job there anymore and even if I do, I'm not sure that's where I want to be anymore."

"Come on Mars, Pete's not going to fire you. You're the best lawyer he has. He was just pissed that you went behind his back. Come back and let me make it up to you baby. You're overreacting. How can you throw away our relationship just like that?"

Veronica was clearly starting to lose her temper with him now, "No Dillon, I'm not the one that threw away what we had, you did. I told you, no second chances if you ever cheated on me. And given I walked right in on it, you certainly can't tell me it wasn't what I thought it was. There isn't any other activity I know of that requires you to be naked with your dick in another woman."

Logan tried really hard to muffle a laugh, but a small sound escaped him. 'Sorry' he mouthed at her when she shot her gaze at him. He expected her to be pissed at him now for laughing at her comment, so he was floored when instead she gave him a sly smile instead.

"What about your stuff that you'd already moved to our apartment? Are you going to at least come back for it?"

"I'll call your sister and see if she can pack it up and take it to my storage unit. And it's officially now just your apartment, there is no more "our" of anything."

"Mars, please come home and give me another chance. I miss you so much and I'm sorry. I love you baby."

Veronica physically cringed at his last comment, "Yeah, well you didn't love me enough, did you? Goodbye Dillon." She hit end on the phone and took a deep breath before she turned to face Logan again.

"So, who's ready to eat." She grabbed her purse and bag and started to walk back toward the door.

"Hey," Logan said softly as he moved in front of her, rubbing his hands gently up and down the outside of her arms. "We can get take out or something if you don't feel like going out now. Or if you want to talk more about that, or anything, just say the word."

"Thanks," she said sincerely. "I don't know what else there is to say about it. It's not like that sort of thing doesn't happen to lots of other people. I know you can relate with Alexis."

He nodded and kissed her forehead. "Do you remember what you said to me when I told you about what happened with her?" She nodded. "Well the same is true for you. You deserve someone who will be faithful to you because I know that you would never be unfaithful either."

"Thank you Logan." She tipped her head up and gave him a loving kiss on his lips.

He was thoughtful for a moment, and couldn't get her sly smile when he laughed at her comment out of his head. "And I hope I don't get in trouble for saying this, but I forgot how sexy you could be when you're pissed off. Of course that's only true when I'm not the one you are pissed off at."

"Well keep that in mind mister, and stay on my good side." She gave him a little wink and started back to the door.

Logan was walking behind her and smiled when he noticed the overnight bag. He didn't say anything though, but he opened the trunk of the car for her to put it inside and gave her a smug smile as she set it down and headed for the passenger door.

After dinner they headed back to Logan's house. They had kept their conversation at dinner fairly light hearted given all the other stressful things that had already happened that day. Neither of them had forgotten about the fact that they still needed to finish discussing what Veronica was going to do about the case and that definitely loomed over both of them still.

When they were about half way to his house, his cell phone rang, which connected to the blue tooth in the car, showing the name across the in-dash display. Logan gave Veronica an apologetic look when he saw it was Alexis calling. She shrugged and gave him an understanding look back.

"What's up Lexi?" he said as he answered the call.

"Hey there. You didn't stop by my office before you left for the day. Didn't Jayne give you my message?"

"Something came up with Veronica and I had to leave before I had the chance to stop by."

"Oh, she's still in town then?"

Logan rolled his eyes. "Yes she is, and we just finished dinner and are driving back to my place."

"Well tell her I said hello then."

Logan gave Veronica a small smile. "You're on speaker, she can hear you."

"Oh, of course, Hi Veronica," Alexis said in a cheery tone.

"Hi," Veronica said back shaking her head slightly.

"I wanted to make sure you didn't forget about that performance we're supposed to go to tomorrow night at Hearst and to see if you wanted to go to dinner beforehand. I know how cranky you can get at those things if you don't have a good meal before they start. I don't want a repeat of the last time we went before you'd had a good dinner."

Logan cringed and looked at Veronica, "I was hoping Veronica would come along too." He silently mouthed "please". An amused grin spread across Veronica's lips. "I'll talk it over with her and let you know about dinner later."

"That sounds fabulous. I'm sure you'll love it Veronica. Well you too have a lovely evening and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Lexi," Logan said as he disconnected the call.

Veronica sat with a smug grin on her face. "So tell me more about this wonderful performance that she's sure I'll love," she teased as he continued to drive.

"Hm... you assume I actually know what performance it is?" He laughed and then explained when he saw her puzzled look, "most of the time I just go to where ever my schedule says I'm suppose to be. It makes it more exciting if it's a surprise. I think this was '8pm Hearst Auditorium – semi formal dress.'" He smirked at her as he continued to drive.

She wasn't sure if he was actually joking with her or being serious. She tried studying his face to see if she could tell, but she really couldn't. He glanced over at her and saw the look of disbelief on her face.

"I could call my assistant if you want me to find out," he said sheepishly.

"So you really just go without knowing what you're actually going to?" she asked with a disbelieving look on her face.

He shrugged before replying. "When I first became Mayor, my assistant would make sure I had all the details. Then a few of the women that work around City Hall were teasing me about how even when I had the details if they'd ask me what event I was going to I couldn't remember. So Felicia, that's my executive assistant by the way, did you meet her when you picked up the file?" Veronica nodded and he smiled back and continued on, "She said if I wasn't going to pay attention she was going to stop putting all that information into my calendar. Though if it's really important that I know what I'm going for, then she'll make sure I do know. But if it's not, then she won't. I think now it's just become a silly little game to her, and I actually sort of like being surprised sometimes. Then I also don't have to dread what I'm going to either and gives me less of a chance to try to back out."

He stared at the road for a few minutes. "So do you want to go?"

Veronica laughed. "To the mystery performance?"

"I thought you loved a good mystery?" He gave her a mischievous smile. "Seriously though, I really can find out what it is. I could call Alexis back and ask her."

"You know it's sort of strange that when you talk about her you call her Alexis, but when you talk to her, it's Lexi." Veronica curiously pointed out.

"Force of habit I guess, we were together a long time. Almost 4 years, and then of course have stayed somewhat close even after that."

"I didn't realize it was that long, Mac made it sound a little shorter I guess."

"She was probably talking about the first time we called off our engagement, she wasn't around for round 2. Round 2 didn't last as long. I told you that the other day, that we split up after I found out about the first indiscretion, and got back together, then split up permanently the second time."

"Oh, right." Veronica turned back out to watch the scenery go by. She hadn't realized that they had actually been engaged twice, though it wasn't like it was some big shocking secret, engaged once or twice to the same person was sort of the same thing. She wasn't sure why it was bothering her though. Maybe it was more about the amount of time that they'd actually been together since it was almost a year longer than she had thought based on her conversation with Mac. Not to mention in the 8 years she'd been gone she had never really found something that meaningful. Dillon was the closest and that hadn't even lasted a full year.

They drove in silence the rest of the way back to Logan's house. As he punched in the code for the gate, he looked over at her and gave her a concerned look. "Are you OK? You got awfully quiet on me there."

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said trying to sound reassuring.

"Please don't do that Veronica." He said gently as he parked the car and turned off the engine.

"What?" she asked, though she could guess what was coming next.

"Don't say you're fine if something's bothering you? Let's go inside and we can talk about it, okay?"

She nodded and opened the car door to go inside. She followed him through the front door and as they walked inside he turned and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close so he could kiss her deeply for a moment. When he stopped she gave him a questioning look. "I just wanted to steal a kiss before we talked, in case it takes a while." He tenderly brushed some of her hair back from her face and smiled lovingly at her.

"Now march yourself to the couch, and tell me what's going through that gorgeous head of yours."

She chuckled softly and took his hand and headed toward the couch. He sat down first and she straddled his lap and looked tenderly into his eyes. She ran her hand along his face and he turned and kissed her palm.

"I'm sorry that I'm still not as good at this total honesty thing as you are." Her disappointment in her self was so easy for him to see in her eyes as she gazed into his.

A small smile formed on his lips and then he kissed her gently. "Will you at least try for me?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

She nodded and gave him another soft kiss on his lips. "Please be patient with me," she whispered as she rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to see any disappointment in his. He deserved it more than anyone she had ever known, and it hurt her so badly that she had such a hard time with it still after all these years. She still wasn't so sure why it was so hard for her to talk about her true feelings sometimes. That need to protect her innermost feelings so no one could take advantage of them was still so embedded into her from all the hurt she endured years ago. There were lots of topics she could be honest about, but her insecurities and innermost feelings were not really two of them.

He started spreading light kisses around her face until she finally opened her now slightly watery eyes. He gently rubbed his thumbs below her eyes, while his hands cupped the sides of her face. "I've waited eight years for you to come back to me, I'm nothing, if not patient, Veronica."

The look he gave her was so full of love and understanding, that she couldn't stop a few tears from rolling down her cheeks.

He pulled her to his chest and whispered in her ear, "Please don't cry. I think we're doing really well so far. You shouldn't be so hard on your self either. Just promise me you'll let me know if there's anything I'm doing that makes you feel like you can't open up to me?"

She let out a half sob, half chuckle sound, "Wouldn't that require that total honesty thing that I seem to fail so miserably at?"

He took a deep breath, and then sat her back up so he could look in her eyes again. "You're the most amazing woman I have ever known, Veronica. I've never known you to fail at anything that you set your mind to. I know that once you feel comfortable enough, you'll get there, but it may just take some time. We've only been back in each others lives for a little over a week. I don't expect everything to fall perfectly in place right away, but I'm sure as hell willing to give it everything I have this time if you'll give me a second chance to make it work. If you need more time to figure out what you want to do, I understand given the circumstances. But I want you to know without a doubt how I feel about it."

She couldn't keep her tears from falling again. "You deserve so much more than I can give you right now," she said through soft sobs. "Part of me is so scared because I don't know what I want to do with my life right now, but another part is terrified of losing you again."

"Hey," he said gently as he pulled her to his chest, "I'm not going anywhere and I'm not going to push you to make any decisions that you aren't ready to make. Let's just take this a day at a time and see if we can't work on getting you to feel more comfortable with this 'total honesty thing', OK?"

She chuckled softly at the way he said it as if it was some strange foreign concept. Maybe to her it really was. There were so many people who had lied and kept things from her when she was growing up that made her put up all those walls, and then she threw herself into finishing college and law school and didn't really focus on trying to fix that part of her that was obviously still broken. Not to mention all the pain she had endured mostly due to the campaign he had led against her in high school, where the most dangerous weapon against her was her insecurities. She didn't still hold that against him, but it was definitely one of the reasons she had started protecting herself all those years ago. Her relationship with Dillon had been less complicated and, looking back now, in some ways superficial.

He gently stroked her head, running his fingers down the length of her hair, then starting back at the top and down again. "Just try for me," he whispered softly again. He felt her body tremble a bit. He continued on talking a little louder than a whisper now, but still in a very gentle tone. "Was it that I was engaged to her twice that bothered you, or that we were together for almost 4 years. You seemed a bit surprised by both and then you immediately shut down and stopped talking. It's OK to say that one of those things bothered you Veronica, or if I'm wrong and it's something entirely different you can say that too." He paused, "or we can go back to the 'I'm fine' lie if you feel better with that for now."

She took a deep breath to try to regain some of her composure. "I think it was just a combination of both."

He gently rubbed his hand up and down her back, "well that's a start. Do you want to talk more about why it bothered you, or consider step 1 of the Logan Echoll's 10 steps to total honesty far enough for now?"

She laughed a little. It never ceased to amaze her how he could be so tender and serious one moment and then try to lighten the mood the next, even if he was probably hurting a little bit too. "How did you get to be such an expert at this?"

"Well I did end up with a minor in Psychology to go along with my Poli Sci major, so I think that helped."

He kissed her forehead again, and she sat back up and looked at him. She was trying with all her might to hold in her tears, "Thank you Logan. For being so wonderful and understanding. I don't want you to think I'm taking you for granted this time either, okay?"

He nodded and she gently kissed his lips. She sighed and clenched her jaw, looking up at the ceiling for a moment before she looked back at him and started to talk. "I think it bothered me because you were able to find that with someone, who wasn't me, and that really hurt." She sobbed softly, "But I'm the only one to blame for it. I'm the one who ran away and didn't want to look back. I was so afraid of what would happen if I had that I did everything I could to walk away and pretend it didn't matter. I also hated that I wasn't able to find anything like that in my own life. I'm so sorry Logan."

He ran his arms up and down her arms and smiled lovingly at her. "All that matters is you're here now. Thank you for being honest with me."

She nodded and buried her head against his chest again, her sobs were mostly gone, though a few trembles still remained. She still seemed to be trying to process through how much that realization had hurt her. She never knew why, but of course when one thing really bothered her, she usually let it spin out of control and then it escalated to all the other related thoughts. She sighed and without looking up asked quietly against his chest, "How long have you lived here?"

He let out a small huff of air, easily able to read between the lines of that question. "About 6 years I guess." He knew perfectly well what she wanted to know, but wasn't sure what else to add to make it better if that bothered her as well.

She inhaled deeply, trying to fight off more sobbing. "Is that how it became the 'Mansion of Loneliness'? After she left?" Her head was still resting up against his chest. She didn't want him to see her expression now and the hurt that was still very much there.

He gently rubbed his hands up and down her back, "It doesn't feel as lonely now that you're here." He softly kissed the top of her head and nuzzled his face into her hair.

They sat there for a few minutes in silence. Logan continued to rub his hands soothingly across her back and after a while he could feel that her body was finally starting to relax again. The trembling and soft sobbing sounds had stopped and her composure seemed to have mostly returned.

She finally sat back so she could look into his eyes again. He could still see some trace of anguish on her face, but she was doing her best to try to keep it away. He moved one of his hands to her face again and gently wiped his thumb across her cheek and tried to reassure her with his smile.

"Can we move past the confessional portion of this program, and on to the make out part now?" She asked with a timid smile and little wink.

He sighed and looked at her, "You know we still have other topics we need to discuss right?"

She kissed his lips again and bit softly on his lower lip before letting go. She was also still straddling him and started rocking her hips a bit against him. She gave him a pouting look, "Come on Mr. Mayor, can't we negotiate on this." She ran her tongue up his neck and then sucked on his ear lobe for a moment before kissing him more deeply on his lips.

She kept rocking against him, and started kissing down the other side of his neck. "Don't I deserve a little reward for opening up to you?" She reached her hand down between them and stroked him gently, "I think you certainly deserve a reward for all that you've done."

Her touch caused a low groan to escape from him. His next words came out in a low tremble, "Don't think I'm going to forget about the case, Veronica."

"I wouldn't expect my amazing partner to forget about it," she purred against his neck as she continued rocking against him.

"Okay Bobcat, you win," He finally relented. It took them a while to make it completely up to his bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes in their path.

This time there was more of a desperate need for intimacy apparent in how Veronica reacted to him. Logan wanted her to feel loved and to help erase those hurtful thoughts from her mind. He wasn't convinced that topic was completely closed, but for now he hoped he was able to show her how much she meant to him and that he meant everything he'd said since she'd come back into his life. He wasn't sure actions would just be enough though and really did want to reassure her, so he tried to get through to her with words as well. Between kisses and small groans he spoke to her in a soft loving voice, "You know no one else matters Veronica... All I ever want is you... It's always been you." He wasn't sure if she had really listened to his words, or if just the physical intimacy had been the main cause, but her body trembled and a wave of pleasure spread through her after he finished speaking, bringing him right behind her as his body reacted to hers.

After they had some time to recover, and their breathing had returned to normal, Logan rolled on his side so he could better see her. She rolled from her back to face him as well. He gently brushed some of her hair from her face and leaned forward and kissed her forehead again.

"OK, time for round two of discussions Miss Mars. Though, I'll start with a hopefully easier topic that you didn't answer yet. Will you accompany me to my mystery performance tomorrow? I'd love it if you would come along, but I'll understand if you'd rather not. I don't want to have to force you to endure an evening with Alexis if you don't want to."

"How can I resist a mystery? I don't think I'd be able to get through the night tomorrow if I didn't know what type of performance it was." He was happy to see that her smile seemed a bit more genuine as she spoke, and the hurt from earlier was at least carefully hidden away if not gone.

"I'll spare you dinner with her, but I'd love to take you out before hand. Just the two of us, okay?"

She nodded and smiled appreciatively at him.

"Shall we move on to the other topic now?" He asked, his expression becoming more serious. She sighed and nodded her head.

"For the next couple of days, you promise to only watch the tracker and not do anything else?" His expression was clearly very troubled, but he was trying to keep his voice calm.

She nodded, "I promise. If anything changes, I'll talk to you before I do anything else. You're my partner on this, and partners stick together and have each other's backs."

"I wish we could talk to Leo about it, but you're right, until we know how he's involved, that may not be a good idea. But for the record Veronica, I still don't think Leo could be involved with anything illegal."

"Of course you know I want you to be right." She said sadly as she placed a soft kiss on his lips.

They spent the rest of the evening snuggled up in his big comfortable bed watching a movie. After all the emotional events of the day they were both physically exhausted and fell asleep before it was over. Logan woke up some time later and watched her sleep for a few minutes before he turned off the TV and fell back asleep himself. As he dozed off he thought about how much he wished he could always keep her close and safe because even after all these years all he wanted to do was protect her.


	18. Chapter 18 - Performing Arts

_**A/N: I wanted to take a quick moment to thank everyone who has left a review already. Since I'm just basically moving these over from AO3, I haven't been putting comments with every chapter like I did over there. I'm happy to see that so many people are reading it here and thrilled to receive all the positive comments. I also decided I'd publish two chapters tonight since they sort of go together. **_

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 18 – Performing Arts

Logan didn't have to be at the office as early as the day before, so he had a little time to spend with Veronica before he had to go. They had showered and dressed together and then headed downstairs to the kitchen. He was cooking up some eggs and bacon for her, as she took a seat at the breakfast counter and saw that he'd put the stack of newspapers there instead of in his office. She gave him a sly smile as she pulled out the Cape Cod Times.

"Interesting choice of news for the Mayor of Neptune," she playfully stated as she started reading the headlines.

He gave her a bashful grin and kept cooking their breakfast. "I'd better not show you the scrapbook I made with all the articles you were in." She assumed he was teasing, but he tried to play it off like he was serious, and with him it was still sometimes hard to tell.

"Yeah, should I make a list of these things for when I have to give testimony as to whether you really are a creepy stalker?" she jokingly asked back.

She took a sip of the coffee he'd put on the counter for her. "So this mysterious event this evening, what sort of outfit does a proper date for the Mayor wear to such an occasion?"

He chuckled and gave her a salacious grin, "While I may find your Seventh Veil undercover outfit sexy, probably not that sort of attire to go to a semi-formal event at the college."

She squished up her nose while she was thinking. "Semi-Formal, huh? What does that even mean? You know I'm not as big a fashionista as you are."

He grabbed his phone from the counter and tapped his fingers on the screen for a few moments before he replied. "I don't have any meetings scheduled for the afternoon, what if I take you to lunch and then I can help you find a dress for tonight, my treat of course."

"You don't have to buy me clothes Logan."

"I know, but I'd like to do it anyway. At least let me help pick it out since you seem to think I'm such a fashion expert." His grin turned mischievous, "Perhaps we can find some other lascivious things for you to wear for my viewing pleasure only."

She shouldn't have been surprised by his suggestion but it still caught her a bit off guard and she almost choked on her coffee and blushed a bit. She shook her head and gave him an amused look, "Let's worry about the semi-formal outfit, and then we'll see where our inspiration takes us."

He smiled happily at her and handed her a plate of eggs, bacon and toast. "Where shall I retrieve you from for lunch? Want to meet at City Hall, or back here, or your Dad's?"

"Actually I'll probably do some work on some of my Dad's cases this morning, so I'll be at the office."

He looked a little suspiciously at her, "And you promise you're not chasing potential murderers around town today, right?"

She nodded and took a bite of toast.

"I'd feel better with a verbal confirmation there, Miss Mars."

She shot him a pleasantly sweet smile and said "I promise," then she paused and added, "Well at least as much as I can promise that there aren't any other potential murders that I may have to check up on today for other types of cases. You never know in this town."

He eyed her suspiciously again before taking a bite of his food. A moment later he added, "Let's make this easier, you promise you're not going any where near Troy, The Clover or the Fitzpatrick's today?"

She smiled sweetly at him again, "Well not knowingly anyway, but you never know who could pop in the office to say hi, and I shouldn't be help accountable for that."

He narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head, "Are you enjoying this?"

"Immensely," she said with a smug look and took another drink of her coffee.

He leaned over so he could kiss her on the head. "Please just try to stay out of trouble until I catch up with you for lunch."

"I'll try." She said with a big grin on her face.

Veronica actually did spend most of the morning working on Debbie's case, from the safety of her dad's office though. Mac had given her some software that would work with the tracker that she had put on Troy's car so she could build a schedule against a map of Neptune to trace where and when his car was in different locations. She spent time converting it into a view that she could better track his schedule for the next few days when that was the only form of surveillance she was going to have. So far since she trailed him the day before, his car had stayed parked near the Clover until about 2am when it went back to his apartment. She noticed he'd gone out a little while ago to the same coffee kiosk he'd stopped at yesterday, but then headed back to his apartment without another meeting at the beach or trip to The Clover, at least not yet.

She had reviewed the file of information that Mac had printed out for her on Troy. She didn't notice anything that Mac hadn't picked up on already though. She spent a few minutes staring at a print out of the traffic cam picture again. She was studying his face in the picture more carefully now. It reminded her of the expression he had when he pretended he had lost his dad's car, worried and forlorn. At least it wasn't the face of a pleased with himself murderer she thought. A shiver shot down her spine when she thought of how smug Aaron was when she ran into him that horrible night at the Grand. She decided it was more comforting that Troy had a concerned or upset look, rather than a smug or arrogant look in the picture. She still didn't think this story was going to have any happy endings though.

She had also downloaded all the pictures that she had taken and was studying them on her computer for any thing she may have missed. She was trying to get a better look at the envelope that he had been carrying, but even zoomed in there wasn't anything she could tell from the pictures. She sighed sadly as she came to the picture of Leo driving by her at Dog Beach. "What have you gotten yourself into now?" She said sadly to herself as she looked at it.

She really wanted to be able to get into Troy's apartment, but had promised Logan to wait until they had a better idea of what his schedule was like. Hopefully if it seemed pretty consistent for the next couple of days, maybe she could convince him to try on Thursday or Friday night. At least she could avoid the topic with him for another day before bringing it up again. Tonight she could just focus on surviving the evening with Alexis.

She'd been so preoccupied by her thoughts of the case, that she didn't realize it was lunch time until she heard the office door open and Logan walked in.

"Tartuffe" He said he walked toward the desk and she looked up at him.

"Bless you?" She said with a completely confused expression on her face.

He rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. "No Molière's Play. That's the performance tonight."

A thoughtful expression crossed her face, and then she laughed. "Of course it is!" She said as she shook her head.

"I think I'm missing something?" Logan asked, perplexed at her reaction.

"You of course remember the Hearst casino heist right?"

He cringed and said he did. He hated that there were so many bad memories of things that were all linked back to that one part of their life.

"Well when I was trying to find the guys who did it, right before we went to the film festival, I visited the theatre department to see if the prop guns were theirs. Their response when I asked was," she continued on in condescending tone, "'We do Molière. You want a poor man's Tarantino - that would be the film department.' I later noticed signs around campus for their performance of Tartuffe that was opening that weekend."

He laughed a little at her impersonation. "Well I suppose they are allowed to repeat the same play once every eight years at least."

She shrugged indecisively as she started to shut down her laptop and started to put the print outs back into the case file. She had printed the picture of Leo driving off and Logan caught a glance at it before she put it in the file. He reached down and picked it up with a very concerned look on his face. After staring at it for a moment, he handed it back with a little sigh so she could file it away. He caught sight of the traffic cam photo as she was putting Leo's back in and asked if he could see it too. She noticed that he swallowed a bit harder as he looked at it. She realized he'd also seen that same devastated expression on Troy's face that night when they came back from Tijuana and the car had vanished. He handed it back silently a moment later and she put the file into her computer bag.

"So you stayed out of trouble so far today?" He said as he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

She smiled sweetly and nodded her head as she kissed him back. "And now do I get lunch as a reward?"

He picked up her computer bag for her and held his arm out in a grand flourish for her to take. "Anything the lady desires," he said as she wrapped her arm into his and they headed toward the stairs.

They had an enjoyable lunch and then headed to a shop he'd recommended they try for a nice dress for the performance. As they entered the shop, a lady in her early 40's greeted them, "Mayor Echolls, how nice to see you again." She smiled politely at Veronica.

"Nice to see you too, Monique, this is my…" he hesitated for a moment, really wanting to say girlfriend, but he didn't think they were officially there yet, and he felt totally thrown off. He tried to recover but felt like he failed miserably. "…dear friend Veronica Mars."

Veronica of course caught the hesitation, but smiled politely back at Monique and said it was nice to meet her. Logan explained that she was attending a performance at Hearst with him and they were hoping to find her the perfect dress for the occasion.

Monique nodded and started looking closely at Veronica, clearly evaluating her body shape, and tapping on her lower lip as she thought. "Yes, I'm sure we can help her find something just perfect." She smiled kindly at Veronica, and then told her to follow her to the dressing rooms.

Veronica gave Logan a confused look, as she wasn't expecting to have someone just hand select dresses for her to try and he shooed her along. "Trust me Veronica, she'll find you something fabulous. I've brought Heather here for all her formal gowns for school dances and the few occasions that she's tagged along to some of my formal events too."

Veronica still looked skeptical, but followed in the direction that Monique had headed. Logan followed a few steps behind, and sat down on a plush sofa that was near the fitting rooms. Obviously he had been there several times and knew the drill. He took out his phone and started flipping through apps on his screen.

Monique brought her about a half dozen different dresses to try on. None of them really liked the first two on her, but when she tried on the third one, she even had to admit it was amazing. It was a black gown with a wide strip of white beading that ran up around her bodice and neck, and then connected in the back between her shoulder blades, leaving most of her back bare. From where the beading met in the middle of her back, it then formed an open circle that showed off her lower back where it accentuated her small waist. The black fabric hugged her curves perfectly and the bottom of the dress flared out slightly at her knees after still hugging her closely at her hips. Logan's eyes opened wide and his mouth fell open slightly, as she walked out to show him.

Monique caught Logan's reaction, and smiled knowingly at Veronica, "I think you've found the perfect one, if the Mayor's reaction is any indicator."

Veronica smiled at Logan and blushed slightly.

"It's absolutely beautiful Veronica." He said once he found his voice again.

"I'm assuming I should just put it on your account?" Monique asked Logan as Veronica headed back to change out of it. Before Veronica could protest, Logan had said yes, so Veronica shot him a warning glance over her shoulder. He smiled sweetly at her, blew her a kiss and then winked. She just shook her head and continued on to the dressing room to change back to her other clothes.

Logan took her to a very fancy French restaurant for dinner. He insisted that if they were going to go watch a French play that they needed to properly prepare for it by having French food for dinner too. When she asked if French Fries or French Toast would count, he just shook his head and laughed at her. The restaurant was very elegant and they had a wonderful romantic dinner by candle light before finally heading off to Hearst.

As they drove over to the college, she caught Logan briefly glance at her with an expression that looked like he wanted to ask a question, but seemed unsure of how to approach it.

"Out with it already!" She demanded when he looked the same way at her a second time.

He laughed and shrugged, "I was trying to figure out an eloquent way to ask this, but given I haven't, and you're so bossy and impatient I'll just throw it out ineloquently then." He smirked and winked at her before he continued.

"I wasn't sure how comfortable you were with being romantically linked to the Mayor of Neptune. There will likely be photographers there for at least the Hearst paper, but sometimes the Neptune Tribune will send reporters and photographers to cover things for their entertainment and local events sections."

She quickly caught on to what he was concerned about. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him, "So really what you're trying to ask is how much PDA can you get away with at this thing?"

He chuckled softly. "Yeah, you're way was pretty eloquent too. I should have just asked if it was okay if I grabbed your ass and French kissed you in the lobby."

She laughed and shook her head. "Well it is a French play, so the French kissing seems like a requirement right?"

He waggled his eyebrows at her, "Remember you said that. And with that dress, I don't know how I'm going to keep my hands from groping you all night."

She smiled and sighed, "Seriously though, I'd probably feel more comfortable at this point at still remaining just a really close acquaintance to the Mayor if that's not going to bother you." Her expression grew more concerned as she watched for his reaction.

He smiled warmly back at her, "That's why I asked my dear." He reached over and took her hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing the back of it. "As long as I know you're coming home to my bed with me, I can be a perfect gentleman in public."

She smiled back in appreciation, and took her hand and softly cradled it along his face. "Thank you for understanding," she said softly.

After a few more minutes she decided to ask more about the play. "So tell me a bit more about what to expect. I take it that it's not just a normal performance where we'll just be going to our seats and watching the performance given our attire is a bit formal for that."

"Right, it's more of a VIP meet and greet type event. The regular performances are on the weekends, but when they are opening a new play, they put together these special events and invite important members of the community to attend and have drinks and hors d'oeuvres. They tend to invite all their wealthy benefactors, as well as anyone else that they hope to turn into benefactors."

"Sounds like a fun crowd," She said sarcastically.

He raised his eyebrows and nodded, "Exactly!"

When they arrived, she was a little surprised to see they even had valet service set up for the guests. As they walked in, Veronica couldn't help but scan the room for Alexis, it was as if she felt like she needed to prepare for battle or something. She didn't spot her, and relaxed a bit. Logan had extended his arm for her, and she gently rested hers through it as they walked a bit farther into the room. She noticed Logan seemed to recognize someone across the room and gave a slight nod to the person. She quickly spotted the person he had addressed as a man, probably in his early 50s, as he nodded back.

"Hey, I'd like to introduce you to someone," Logan said as he started heading to the other side of the room.

As they reached the gentleman, he extended his hand and Logan reached out and shook it. "Hey, I missed golfing with you on Sunday," the gentleman said as he gave Veronica a polite smile. "If you were busy with this lovely lady though, I'll let it slide."

"Sorry about that," Logan said with a kind smile. "Roger, I'd like to introduce you to Miss Veronica Mars. She's an old friend of mine who's back in town for a while and agreed to accompany me to tonight's performance. She's actually working as an ADA in Cape Cod after graduating in the top 5 of her class from Harvard." He smiled adoringly at Veronica. "And Veronica this is our very own D.A. Roger Butler.'

Veronica couldn't help but let a sly little grin sneak out as she looked at Logan. How convenient that he's golf buddies with Neptune's D.A. and thought to introduce them tonight.

"Well my credentials aren't as impressive as yours Miss Mars, but it's a pleasure to meet you."

Veronica blushed a bit and shook her head slightly at Logan, "The pleasure's all mine Mr. Butler."

"Please call me Roger," he insisted.

Logan's smile changed to be slightly more devious, "I've been trying to convince her she should extend her stay and look for something out on this coast instead. Her friends and family are all here, so I think it would be a great idea, but haven't quite convinced her yet."

Roger smiled at Logan's antics as well, "You know I'm always looking for good people for my department," he replied first more to Logan, then shifted to Veronica, "so if he's able to convince you, be sure to come and see me, alright?"

Veronica smiled politely and nodded. 'Devious mastermind indeed', she thought to herself.

Roger caught sight of someone else he needed to talk with and excused himself and walked to the other side of the room. As they turned back toward the entrance, Veronica caught a glance of a tall brunette just entering the building and from the way she was laughing and tossing her head back, there was no way to not instantly recognize Alexis. She was walking with a handsome blonde man. He was about the same height as Logan, but a bit broader in his shoulders and overall just a slightly larger build.

"She must really not like you, I see she brought out the big guns," Logan muttered before he realized what he was saying and wished that he hadn't. Veronica immediately felt his body go tense as he said it and the smile that was on his face vanished for a moment, before he forced one that she could easily tell was fake back in it's place.

She leaned up toward his ear and said in a soft voice, "What's wrong Logan?"

He looked down at her and let out a deep breath, "I'll tell you later, ok?" His expression was pleading with her to drop it for now, but she was shocked by how much hurt she could see in his dark brown eyes.

She instantly nodded and tried to smile reassuringly back at him. She imagined it was likely Alexis' guest that had brought on his reaction. She really hadn't expected him to react like that, so was caught off guard when it happened.

Of course Alexis spotted them, and her and her blonde Adonis of a date headed toward them.

"You look handsome as ever Logan" She said as she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, then taking one of her perfectly manicured fingers, she rubbed away the lipstick mark she had left. "Nice to see you again Veronica. You look lovely as well this evening," she said politely and smiled at her.

The man with Alexis nodded in Logan's direction, "Logan."

Logan nodded, but didn't say anything back. Alexis of course picked up on his discomfort, and went on to introduce her date. "David, this is Veronica Mars, she's an old friend of Logan's that went to high school with him here in Neptune. Veronica, this is David Spellman, we went to UCLA together before I transferred to Hearst and he helped to start Logan's foundation right after Logan and I graduated from College."

Logan let out a bit of a disgruntled sound and his posture became even more rigid, and she could feel his muscles tightening in his forearm under her hand as he slightly clenched his fist that was up against his stomach.

Alexis continued to smile pleasantly and since it was evident that Logan was not happy at all she added, "Oh relax Logan, it's not like you're not fu… spending time with your old high school girlfriend. David just happened to be coming through Neptune on his way to San Diego and the timing worked out perfectly to catch up over dinner and attend the performance together. It's been almost 3 years Logan, I think you need to let it go." She shot him a grin that Veronica could have sworn she'd seen Lilly give him when she was being a total bitch to him when they were broken up. Her heart immediately sped up, and she wasn't sure if it was the eerie similarity to Lilly, or that she could tell that their little interaction was having such a devastating effect on Logan.

"I really do love your dress Veronica." She turned a bit more toward Logan again and gave him a fond look, "It reminds me of the one you picked out for me at Monique's boutique to wear to the first fundraiser we had for your foundation. Remember how you accidentally tore one of the straps and beads flew all over the place in our bedroom. I remember finding some of them even months later. Monique was devastated when I told her you'd ruined it."

Logan nodded slightly in agreement, but it was evident he was still very much on edge.

"We're going to get some drinks. We'll see you at the intermission." She smiled again at Veronica, "Enjoy the show." And turned and walked off toward the bar with David trailing right behind her.

Veronica could tell that Logan was battling to keep his composure and was still extremely tense even after Alexis had walked off. She took her hand and ran it up his forearm until she could push her fingers under his and worked her hand into the fist he'd made, getting him to at least relax enough to entwine their fingers. She was quickly scanning the room as well while she moved her hand, and noticed a small alcove area that seemed semi-private to the rest of the room. Once she had her hand in his, she pulled their joined hands way from his body, getting his attention back to her. She tilted her head in the direction of the alcove and started walking. She was relieved that he followed and didn't just stand there frozen in place.

As they walked, she was still amazed not only by what had just happened, but how Logan had seemed to find someone who could have easily been Lilly reincarnated. Mac didn't really know Lilly, so wouldn't have thought to describe her that way, but after what Veronica had just witnessed there really wasn't any doubt in her mind that if Lilly had lived, she would have turned out very much like Alexis. The comfortable ease to which she single-handedly tried to ruin Logan's night was beyond belief. Veronica was trying her best to not let all of Alexis's little innuendos get to her either, at least for Logan's sake.

The short walk seemed to bring a little bit of composure back to Logan and as they reached the small space, she turned and looked at him with a concerned expression on her face.

"Are you OK?" She asked in a gentle voice.

"Yep," he said sharply, not looking at her but glancing over her head back out to the main room. She could tell he didn't seem to be focusing on anything in particular.

She took her free hand and gently reached up and cupped the side of his face. "Please don't do that." She said very softly, repeating what he'd said to her the day before.

He let out a deep breath, and finally looked at her. "I'm sorry. You're right. I'm not really okay right now." He reached up and gently squeezed her hand that was resting on his cheek. His dark brown eyes still looked troubled as he gazed sadly at her.

"Do you want to leave?" She asked in a soft understanding tone.

He took another deep breath and shook his head. "No, I need to stay. They'll want to do some photos after the performance with the actors, some of the other college staff and myself. And I sure as hell don't want to let her get the satisfaction of being such a bitch and ruining our night."

A sly smile crossed her lips as she was glad to see a little bit of his spark return, though there was still a lot of pain in his eyes. She nodded in understanding. She slid her hand more behind his head from his cheek so she could pull him down to her as she leaned up and kissed him firmly. He let go of her other hand so he could wrap his arms around her, and as he rested his forehead against hers, he let out a deep sigh.

"I really am sorry Veronica." He said, barely above a whisper.

She gently shook her head, "Hey, you didn't do anything Logan. You don't need to apologize to me for anything." She pulled her head back to be sure he really believed her, looking at him very carefully.

She smiled slyly at him again, "Forget what I said in the car, if it makes you feel any better, feel free to grope me all you want." She gave him a playful smile and a little wink.

He tightened his hold on her and rested his head on her shoulder. She felt him take a deep breath and hold it for about 5 seconds before he released it and then stood up away from her, with his hands still resting lightly on her waist. "Thank you." He said with a warmer smile on his face.

She nodded and leaned up so she could give him another brief kiss. "Any time partner," she said with a loving expression on her face.

People were starting to head into the auditorium portion of the building, so they also started to make their way to find seats to watch the performance. They ended up sitting toward the back where it was less crowded. Once they were seated, he reached over and entwined their fingers again, bringing her hand up for a quick kiss.

"If I haven't said it enough yet tonight, you really do look absolutely stunning." He said in a low voice with a purely adoring expression on his face. She smiled genuinely at him and thanked him as the performance began. She kept rubbing her thumb gently across the back of his hand as they watched. After a few minutes she also took her free hand and rested in on his leg and gently ran it back and forth trying to help him relax a bit more. She could tell there was still some pent up anger from the incident in the lobby, but he seemed to be slowly relaxing as the performance went on.


	19. Chapter 19 - Intermission

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 19 – Intermission

As they watched the play, Veronica couldn't help but think how the theme was fitting for Alexis and her behavior tonight. She was as manipulative and conniving as the main character in the play. As they announced intermission, Veronica braced her self for round two of her fabulous night with Alexis.

Logan greeted several people as they slowly walked through the lobby again. There were wait-staff working their way through the crowd with trays of hors d'oeuvres and drinks. Logan selected two glasses of champagne from one of the trays and handed one to Veronica. She was a little surprised to see him take one and wondered if it was just his normal occasional drink as the Mayor that he had mentioned before or if it was to help deal a little with the situation tonight.

As expected, Alexis made her way back to them a few minutes after he'd grabbed their drinks, walking with her arm wrapped around David's. Veronica instinctively reached down to hold Logan's hand as she approached them.

"Are the two of you enjoying the performance?" Alexis asked as she and David reached them, and also took two glasses of champagne for themselves.

Logan and Veronica nodded in reply.

"Doesn't this remind you of that play we saw when we visited Paris, Logan? Of course they were professional actors at that performance, but the college program here really does a nice job too. Have you ever visited Paris, Veronica?"

Veronica shook her head politely, "No I haven't."

"You really should visit sometime, there are so many wonderful sights to see. I just loved the Eiffel tower and the Palace of Versailles. Of course Logan's French was atrocious on our first visit, and I swear he kept getting lost on purpose so he could just go back to the hotel instead of to the places I wanted to see." She had a sly smile on her face as she spoke. "Oh well, it gave me an excuse to convince him to take me a couple more times after that."

She took a sip of her champagne before turning toward Logan again. "You said you preferred Barcelona over Paris though didn't you?" Logan said that he did like Barcelona better, though his reply was not terribly enthusiastic. She smiled and continued on. "You did seem to really enjoy the Magic Fountain show there. I suppose that was more interesting than me dragging you to museums and architectural marvels. Although I know excluding the cultural locations I forced you to visit, your favorite spots were the places that we were able to go surfing. I'll never forget the Gold Coast and Margaret River Valley in Australia. They were such absolutely beautiful places with world class surfing, although I much prefer places with fewer sharks to worry about. It's so nice that their seasons are opposite of ours so we could get away to the warmer ocean there when it was starting to get colder here. Although it was rather strange to be celebrating Christmas that one year in what was basically summertime." She took a sip of her drink then continued, "Do you surf Veronica?"

"A little, I took a couple lessons last summer in Cape Cod, but working at the DA's office keeps me a little too busy to spend much time out doing that."

"There are only a few activities I love more than surfing. And when you find those perfect spots it just makes it so much better. What was that place in Indonesia that we went to last year with Dick and Mac, Logan?"

"Mentawais Islands," Logan answered politely. He was clearly not thrilled with Alexis's stroll down memory lane, especially when some of the memories may not be as distant as Veronica may have expected.

"Really?" Alexis looked thoughtful for a moment. "I guess I thought that was the time before that. Several places there seemed so similar though. Oh and remember our trip to Tahiti, that was an amazing surf trip also. Perfect waves and perfect weather, and what a gorgeous place we found to stay at. The view from our terrace was absolutely breathtaking."

Alexis was briefly interrupted as an older woman strolling by stopped to say hello. The interruption finally gave David a chance to join the conversation, asking about the Masquerade Ball. "Lexi mentioned at dinner that the benefit last weekend was a big success this year. I'm glad to hear the foundation is doing so well. I've seen it mentioned in several articles too. You've done a really great job with it Logan."

Logan nodded and said a brief thank you in reply.

Alexis took over the conversation again, and after the older lady had moved on to another group of people, she turned to ask Veronica about her visit. "So are you enjoying your visit to Neptune, Veronica?"

Veronica smiled sweetly at her, leaning her head lovingly against Logan's shoulder as she answered. "It's been absolutely wonderful. I think my favorite part by far was spending the weekend at Logan's beach house. Isn't that just the most breathtaking and romantic place you've ever seen? I know it definitely took my breath away."

Veronica's sharp detective skills were able to catch exactly the reaction she was hoping to get, even though it was only there for a brief second. Two can play at this game she thought smugly to herself.

She wasn't sure if Logan was playing along or just being honest when he interjected with a quick reply. "Alexis hasn't actually been there before."

Veronica smiled innocently, "Oh that's right, you did mention that. Sorry, I completely forgot. Well take my word for it, it really is unforgettable once you've been there. And the view of the stars from the deck at night was even more breathtaking than the ocean during the day."

If he hadn't picked up on what she was doing before, the innocent act with her little head tilt she had just given him definitely clued him in.

She turned so she could press herself more against his chest and looked adoringly up into his eyes. "Do you think we could go back this weekend and stay again? I don't think I could ever grow tired of spending time there, especially being there alone with you." Her eyes sparkled up at him and she had a smile on her lips that he easily recognized as her being up to a little bit of mischief, but there was a lot of adoration there too.

"You know I can never say no to you." he answered sweetly. He wanted to kiss her so badly but wasn't sure if what she said earlier was just to make him relax then or if she really meant it.

She was wearing fairly high heels, which helped close some of their height difference, so it wasn't hard for her to lean up even closer. "You're the best," she said as she pressed her lips to his for a bit more than just a friendly kiss.

Logan looked at her in amazement as she stood back down on her heels again and continued to beam up at him. For a few moments he completely forgot there were other people in the room and it really didn't matter to him if she was doing it just for Alexis's benefit or not. The fact that she cared enough to do it mattered even more to him than why and the look in her eyes was making it extremely difficult to keep his composure.

An announcement was made that they would be starting the next part of the performance in a few minutes. A waiter was walking by and they placed their now empty glasses on his tray. Alexis and David turned to head back in but Logan held Veronica back as other guests were all returning to the auditorium. He pulled her over toward the small alcove again. Most everyone else had gone back in and only a few wait-staff remained, busily picking up what ever had been left behind on several tables spread throughout the room.

There were several large potted plants in the alcove and Logan strategically located Veronica behind one so the wait-staff that were still cleaning couldn't really see them. She could tell by the lust in his eyes what he was going to do and she only gave him an encouraging look back.

He leaned in closer to her, his voice coming out as a low growl in her ear, "Sorry but I don't feel like being much of a gentleman any more." He was breathing harder as he brushed his nose from below her ear down her neck toward her collarbone, his lips just barely grazing her skin as he moved.

She replied in a low sultry voice, "That's good because I'm not really feeling much like a proper lady either."

As soon as she spoke his mouth opened against her neck and she could feel the warm heat from his lips and tongue send a jolt of desire through her body. She moaned softly as he continued to move his mouth over her body, and he started running his hands over her back side.

She finally breathlessly asked, "Don't we need to get back inside?"

He shook his head, and said in a low lust filled voice, "I just need to be here for pictures at the end. That should give me thirty minutes to do ungentlemanly things to you."

He was pulling her body closer to his, and she could easily feel his arousal. She was starting to breathe even harder as he continued grinding more against her with her back up against the wall hidden behind the large plant.

She had worn her hair pinned up for the night, and she reached up and took out the pins that were holding it in place, letting her curls fall down around her shoulders. She held the pins up to Logan, and gave him a suggestive look. His smile turned mischievous as well and he let her lead them out of the alcove, down a hall that led toward the backstage area. There were several doors in the hall that led backstage, and Veronica quickly glanced around before first trying the handle on one to see if it would open, and then when it didn't, using the pins to easily open it on her own.

It was some sort of small office, which didn't have much furniture, but they really didn't care. As soon as she locked the door behind them, he was pushed up against her again with her back to the door. His hands were low on her thighs as he worked at bringing the fabric of her dress up higher so he could have better access under her dress. They both knew this wasn't going to be some romantic rendezvous, but rather a hot and passionate, sexually charged encounter. She was just as eagerly undoing his pants, and soon they were pooled at his ankles, as she reached under the band of his silk boxers to also get them out of the way. He groaned loudly as her hand wrapped around him. Neither had much control over what was going on by that point. They both seemed to be dealing with their own frustrations at what Alexis had been doing tonight, and rather than let it get to them, they seemed to be of the same mind to channel their emotions to a more positive physical release.

They never did make it any farther than the door, although it was an impressive amount of time that they were able to keep up the sheer raw motion before they both climaxed together. Veronica really hoped no one was walking down the hall given neither of them were keeping very quiet toward the end.

Logan stood for a moment, still holding her against the door with his head resting on her shoulder while he was trying to catch his breath. "Best damn performance I've ever been too," he said breathlessly. "I need to be sure Felicia puts more of these type of events on my calendar in the future."

She couldn't help put laugh, although she was also out of breath too, so there wasn't much sound coming out. He slowly let her down and they worked on getting their clothes back on and readjusted. She thought they were done and was about to open the door, when he reached for her waist and spun her back to him again and kissed her passionately. He pressed her against the door again, though more lovingly this time. The intensity that had been there when they first snuck in was replaced by a calm energy again. He finally broke the kiss and whispered, "Thank you," softly against her ear. He nuzzled his nose against hers and looked lovingly into her eyes. She was relieved to see they weren't as troubled as earlier. She placed a soft kiss on his lips and then smiled warmly back at him.

They left the office and headed into the bathrooms to get more thoroughly cleaned up before they went back in to catch the last of the performance. Veronica was rinsing her hands off at the sink looking at her reflection in the mirror. She couldn't help but have a blissful smile on her face. She decided it wasn't worth trying to get her hair fixed back up again, so just made sure it looked fine down. She was about to walk out the door, when it swung open and she practically ran into Alexis.

"Sorry," Alexis started to say before realizing who it was. It took her a moment to realize it was Veronica, and then a look of realization seemed to flash across her face as she took in her blissful look and that her hair was seriously tussled as compared to the formal up-do she was wearing earlier.

Veronica flashed a huge smile at her and commented as she continued past her back to the lobby, "You were right, this was an absolutely fabulous performance."

As Veronica walked back into the lobby, Logan was just coming out as well, so he hadn't run into Alexis. His expression changed from admiring to curious, as he noticed she had a smug look on her face as she walked closer to him.

"I thought I'd let you decide if you'd like to put on our own performance or head back in to watch the other one." She said with a mischievous smile.

"What are you talking about?" He clearly wasn't following where she was going yet.

"Alexis just ran into me in the bathroom and should be coming back out in a minute or two."

He smiled deviously as well, catching on to what Veronica was implying. She could tell that he was debating though, likely trying to decide between being the mature responsible Mayor he needed to be, but also wanting to get a little shot at Alexis given she was obviously doing her best to get to them in as subtle of ways as she could. Of course he was easily swayed by the fact that he found Veronica's mischievous behavior totally irresistible.

As he heard heels clicking on the tile floor leading out of the women's bathroom, he reached for her and pulled her against him, running one of his hands up into her curls again, and met her lips with a deep passionate kiss. He had his other hand wrapped around her petite waist and placed firmly against her opposite hip. The clicking of the heels stopped for a moment, and then continued on back into the auditorium.

Veronica broke the kiss for a moment and softly said, "I'm pretty sure she's gone."

"I don't actually care," he replied lovingly and kissed her a few moments more before he finally stopped, starting to get a little breathless again. "Okay, we'd better go back in for the rest of the play before the entire audience is treated with their own unexpected replay of what we just did down the hall when the show is over."

She smiled tenderly at him and nodded, stepping slightly away to also catch her breath.

They made it back to their seats for the last 10 minutes of the performance. Once it was over, Veronica stayed by Logan's side as he talked with several other attendees. He was eventually flagged down by a photographer who wanted some pictures of him with the cast and various Hearst staff members. Veronica found a spot off to the side where she would be out of the way while Logan was occupied with the photographers.

Roger saw her standing alone and approached her. "I didn't get a chance to ask before, but you're Keith's daughter right?" Veronica nodded. "He's a terrific detective. I've worked with him on a few cases since starting here in Neptune. Sounds like he's had some tough breaks over the years, but I can tell he's a man you can really trust to be honest and get the job done." She smiled appreciatively and agreed.

"I've been working with Logan too ever since he won the election, and he's also a really remarkable man. I also know he can be pretty persuasive when there's something he really wants. I just wanted you to know I really was serious earlier with what I said. If he's able to convince you to stay in Neptune, I really would like to talk with you if you're interested in working for my office. Unfortunately we seem to get a lot of turn over with lawyers being pulled to L.A. or San Diego to work on bigger cases, and not many seem to like sticking around Neptune for long." He looked thoughtful for a minute, "I hope that doesn't give you the impression that working for my office is a nightmare or something."

She laughed lightly, "No worries, I grew up in Neptune, so I know all about what it's like living here and also wanting to move on to something bigger and brighter away from here." She paused a moment, "But sometimes you may not appreciate what it was you had until you've left it behind."

He smiled knowingly at her and nodded his head.

"I'm really not sure yet if I'm ready to come back to Neptune permanently though, but I do appreciate your offer and I promise I'll keep it in mind while I'm trying to figure out what I want to do."

He smiled and reached out his hand to shake hers, "It was a pleasure to meet you, and be sure to tell your father I send my best and hope to see him soon. Logan really needs to get him to join us out golfing sometimes. And if you golf, you should come along too."

She laughed, "Maybe I can just tag along in the golf cart, as I'm afraid that's not a sport I've ever excelled at." He smiled kindly, and then excused himself again to go and talk with some other acquaintances.

Veronica noticed that while she was talking with Roger, Alexis had also been pulled into the photo-op session. She wondered though if she was actually pulled in, or if she interjected herself on her own. Of course in typical Alexis fashion, she was standing right at Logan's side and frequently had her hands on either his shoulder, arm or chest. Veronica sighed sadly as she could tell he was starting to look a bit tense again, and his smile was anything but genuine.

She caught him looking her way and she shot him the most supportive loving smile she could. Even across the room, she could tell he seemed to relax a bit more for the few moments that their eyes were locked together before one of the photographers asked him a question and he had to focus back to the group in front of him. As soon as they were done, Logan made an immediate break towards where Veronica was standing, giving a few quick greetings to people on his way to her. Luckily some older lady had started talking to Alexis and she wasn't able to follow him out of the group.

"Ready to go?" He asked in a hopeful, almost desperate plea.

She nodded reassuringly to him, and reached out her hand for him to take. They headed out to pick up their car from the valet, not really speaking at all until they were in the car and headed away from the college.

He let out a loud sigh, "I don't even know what to say," a bit of his old self-deprecating tone was back, "sorry that Alexis was a total bitch tonight or thanks for the most amazing intermission I've ever had. Neither of which were what I had expected to be saying when I asked you to join me tonight."

She placed her hand gently above his knee. "Hey I told you back there that you didn't need to apologize for how Alexis acted. I can understand though why your other girlfriends may not have stuck around if they constantly had to deal with that."

He shook his head and sighed again, placing his hand on top of hers. "No, that was a completely new level for her." He looked at her compassionately, though cringed a bit too as he spoke. "I suppose you could take it as a compliment about her knowing how much you mean to me."

She smiled softly back at him and repositioned her hand on top of his, so she could squeeze it gently. They drove the rest of the way back to his house in silence. Veronica did want to talk more about things from tonight, but didn't want to do it in the car. She wasn't sure if he was formulating a plan for what he wanted to say, but he didn't break the silence either and mostly just focused on the road the rest of the way back.


	20. Chapter 20 - Dedication

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 20 - Dedication

Once they were back at Logan's house, he took off his jacket and tie, and loosened his collar, before sitting down on the couch. As he sat down, he exhaled all the air in his lungs and his body sunk into the back of the couch. Veronica slipped off her heels and then snuggled up next to him with her back against him and he wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his face against her neck. She leaned back towards him and rested her head against his chest. He placed a few light kisses on her neck and entwined their fingers, so he could gently run his fingers against hers.

They sat quietly for a few minutes before Logan finally broke the silence. "Are you doing okay with everything from tonight? I don't want you to bottle anything up if there's anything you want to talk about." His voice came out softly with an edge of concern to it.

She shifted so she could look him in the eyes and gently shook her head. "I think tonight was probably harder on you. I went to Neptune High remember, I'm a pro at dealing with manipulative catty girls." She gave him a sympathetic smile and gently ran her hand along his face.

She could still see a bit of sadness in his eyes, though not as bad as when Alexis had first arrived at the performance with David, but there was clearly still some anguish there. "Would you feel better talking about it? Isn't that part of your 10 step program?" She gave him a soft smile.

The corners of his lips turned up a bit, though it still wasn't a very big smile. "Easier when you're not the one who should be doing the sharing, isn't it?" He took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

"Were my keen detective skills correct in deducing David was more than just an old college friend? Was he one of the indiscretions?"

He nodded, still staring up at the ceiling. "Both actually, well the two I knew about anyway."

She nodded, "Yeah, it didn't really take a PI license to pick up on that." She nervously bit on her bottom lip and looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry she brought him tonight. If you'd rather not talk about it any more that's fine."

He sighed deeply, and looked at her again. He gently brushed some stray hairs out of her face and tucked a few of her curls behind her ear, letting his fingers graze softy along the side of her face. "I said I'd tell you anything you wanted to know. So I'll leave it up to you. Is it something that you want to know more about or not?"

She looked at him and struggled with her answer. Did it matter what had happened between the three of them or not. She of course was curious, but was her curiosity worth putting him through the agony of recounting what had happened. He had told her that he didn't love Alexis enough to ever really trust her again. But she did find it a little surprising how he reacted if he didn't still have some deep feelings about what had happened. She was sure seeing the guy it happened with would probably make it even worse. As she thought more about it though, she was actually struggling more with the realization of how much Alexis was like Lilly and she hadn't even brought that up to him yet.

"I do care what happened, but I also don't want to cause you any more anguish tonight than what you already went through."

"It just caught me off guard more than anything. I haven't seen David in years, and wasn't expecting him to be there tonight. She knew it would get to me of course."

She nodded and looked at him compassionately.

He took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before letting it out. "Like she said, David helped me with the foundation I started when I graduated from Hearst. It's the foundation that the Masquerade Ball was held for, I don't know if you knew that or not. It's a group that works with abused kids." She smiled lovingly and shook her head since she actually hadn't heard about it, other than the name she saw at the Ball. "David was two years ahead of us in college, and he'd started working with other groups like that up in LA after graduating from UCLA, so Alexis had recommended him when I said I wanted to start an organization to help abused kids in Neptune. So he moved to Neptune to help start the foundation and had a director level job working there. She had introduced him as just being a friend she knew when she was going to UCLA. I didn't know at the time that they had actually dated the two years she was there. I also found out later that for the first 6 months or so that we were together that she was also seeing him when she would go back to visit her family in LA." Veronica gently rubbed her hand along his leg while she listened intently to him and gave him a sympathetic look. He placed his hand over the top of hers and rubbed his thumb along the side of hers.

"I was supposed to go to Vegas with Dick for a bachelor's party for one of the guys that worked at Growlers, and when we were at the airport our flight was cancelled. I wasn't feeling super great when we first got to the airport, and realized that I either had the flu or food poisoning and decided there was no way I wanted to wait around for another flight, so I came home instead." He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, then continued. "I walked in and caught them in the middle of having sex on the ottoman here in the living room." She glanced around the room because she didn't recall there being an ottoman in the room before. He of course caught her looking and gave her a bit of a sheepish look. "It's not here anymore. Three years ago my temper wasn't as under control as it is now and the ottoman didn't survive the wrath I took out on it later." He sighed and looked a bit ashamed, "Dick came over and we grabbed a bottle of Jack and some lighter fluid and had a bonfire on the beach." He shrugged and shook his head a little. "That was the first time. He of course resigned from the position he had with the foundation and moved back to LA."

He paused for a moment and she wondered if he was going to continue or not. She gently reached up and stroked his cheek with her hand. He closed his eyes as he felt the warmth of her palm against his face. He sighed again and opened his eyes before continuing. "The second time happened when she was up in LA, supposedly visiting family again. It was actually Heather who just happened to be at the same hotel that they were staying at and spotted them together and caught them in a very intimate embrace in the lobby. Alexis probably could have lied to me about it and denied that something had actually happened, but she admitted they had been together again when I confronted her, and that's when I called off the engagement permanently."

"I can certainly empathize with the pain you felt when you walked in on them," she said compassionately.

He gave her a very grim smile, and then nodded in agreement. "I guess while I was able to forgive her eventually, I could never actually forgive him for betraying our friendship like he did. We'd all spent a lot of time together the year or so that he was here working with me setting up the foundation, so of course I was pretty mad at him when I found out what was going on. Not to mention the fact that neither of them had been honest about their relationship in the past."

He smiled softly at her and ran his hand over her head. "Thanks again for being so great there tonight. I really am sorry she acted like that." He caught an ambiguous expression pass across her face that he couldn't quite read. "What are you wondering about? You just had an odd look on your face."

She shook her head, "It's nothing. Hey do you want to go up and get ready for bed? You've got to work in the morning, right, and it's getting late." She really didn't want to get into the whole Lilly topic tonight.

He looked a little suspiciously at her. He was trying to figure out what that expression might have meant, and he narrowed it down to either being something that he probably wasn't going to like, or that she thought was going to hurt him.

"Whatever it is, you can say it Veronica. Trust me, I'm not really that fragile," He gave her a little wink and smiled. He reached out to run his hand up and down the side of her arm.

"It's just…" She paused for a moment thinking of whether she really should mention it, but decided to go ahead and say it rather than let it build up and be an issue later since he wanted to know. "I couldn't help but notice tonight that Alexis bears a striking resemblance to Lilly's personality." She watched him carefully to see his reaction.

He smiled a little bitterly, "Yeah, especially when she goes into bitch mode." He sighed and looked at the ceiling again before looking back at her. "I'm not going to lie and say I never noticed. Maybe that was part of what drew me to her when we first met too. She does share a lot of the same characteristics and personality traits." He paused for a moment, and then continued on, growing more serious. "Honestly, that's probably why I refused to believe Mac at first when she was trying to convince me that Alexis was being unfaithful." He hesitated again, before continuing, "It's not that I didn't think she was capable of it, I think it was probably because I didn't want to lose her like I lost Lilly since she reminded me so much of her." He took an unsteady breath before continuing, "I suppose deep down that's why I've never been able to completely just push her out of my life either." Now he was trying to read Veronica and gauge her reaction. "I'm not surprised that you would eventually notice the similarity too. I'm sorry if that makes it more uncomfortable for you. I can't even imagine what you're thinking right now about me and my poor choices." He took a deep breath and looked sadly at her.

Veronica was struggling with how to feel about his revelation. She hadn't realized until tonight what it really was about Alexis that made him hold on to something with her even after all that had happened. Now she knew it was because in some way he probably felt like he still had some sort of connection back to Lilly.

Of course the next question she wanted to ask, she instinctively knew the answer to, and it wasn't one that made her feel any more secure now that she knew more about his feelings towards Alexis. She took a deep breath and asked anyway, because that's just what she always did and still couldn't help herself. "And by not pushing her out of your life, do you also mean you've still been with her… had sex with her, even after the engagement was over?"

He sighed and nodded slowly, and then a look of guilt washed over him. He often wondered if Lilly had lived, would it have been the same with her. He couldn't stop himself from going back to Lilly time and time again either when she was alive. He was also never really sure if she had lived if he would have ever had what he did with Veronica, but he had tried to tell himself they would have still connected somehow, though honestly he wasn't positive about that either.

He watched her face carefully and saw the look he had dreaded, yet expected, that old familiar look of disappointment in him. He would much rather have faced her anger, than that devastating look of disappointment again. He wasn't sure if he could make it better, but all he could do was try. "But it's been a while Veronica, and never when I've been involved with anyone else." He could tell she still had a question or concern that she wasn't asking. He thought back across the last week, and realized of course she was probably wondering about the trip to L.A. "And not since you've been back Veronica, I swear, it's been much longer than that."

He looked at her pleadingly, hoping that she would believe him, and not let it become an issue for them. He reached out to run his hand over her cheek and she turned away from him, looking out toward the dark windows, and took a deep breath. He watched as she bit on her bottom lip and wished he could do something to make it better. He had feared that his relationship with Alexis was going to be challenging for them to work through, but he really hoped it wouldn't drive her completely away. This evening had started out so perfectly with their romantic dinner before the play. How did they always seem to go from things being absolutely wonderful, to things being a mess in the span of a few short hours?

He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I can't change the past Veronica. I really do want a second chance for us. Please tell me this isn't going to ruin that before we barely even started again." His voice was getting shakier the more he spoke. The tremble at the end drew her gaze back to him again.

A few tears were forming in her eyes and she swallowed hard trying to keep more from coming. "I don't want to let that happen either, but right now I don't know exactly how I feel about it all." Her expression was a combination of confusion and sadness.

He slowly reached out to run his hand down the side of her head again, and this time she didn't turn away. He gently pulled her against his chest and held her tightly. He was trying to hold back tears as well and took a deep breath.

She inhaled deeply then spoke, her face almost buried against his chest. "You loved Lilly so much Logan, if you feel the same way about Alexis, I don't know how you can say you wouldn't keep going back to her, especially when you already have."

He sighed tensely as he continued to hold her tight, his voice almost a sob now, "I loved you more Veronica. I still love you more. You have to know that. You were gone though and I didn't think you were ever coming back. Alexis helped fill that hole you left, but she never replaced you. Please believe me."

He felt her nod hear head against his chest, but she didn't answer him. They sat there for a few minutes before she took another deep breath. "Let's go up to bed, okay? It's been a really long day, and maybe we'll both feel better tomorrow after we get some sleep."

He nodded, but didn't say anything. She felt a tear drop onto her head. Her heart hurt so much at that moment, and then she realized that this was exactly what Alexis was trying to do. For a moment she was mad at herself for actually letting her get to them. Of course Alexis probably didn't know that it was her likeness to Lilly that would be the most painful part for her, but Alexis had done as much as she could at the performance to start whatever feelings of doubt she could create.

She sat up and looked warmly at him. She brushed her thumbs under his eyes to wipe away a few small tears that were there, and then placed a gentle kiss on his lips. She sniffed a little trying to keep her own tears from coming. Then she whispered, "I don't want to let her win Logan," and smiled softly. "I do want to believe in you… in us. I just need some time to do that though, okay?" He nodded and tried to smile, but it wasn't very convincing. She kissed him softly again. "I'm not going anywhere right now, okay?"

He swallowed and then kissed her back softly. His voice was barely a whisper, "I still love you Veronica and I don't want to lose you again."

She stood up and held her hand out for him. He took it and stood, and then they silently walked up to his bedroom after he punched in the alarm code by the door. As they were getting changed out of their formal clothes, they glanced at each other a few times with somewhat sad expressions. Neither seemed quite ready to say anything else yet. He felt horrible about the disappointed look he'd seen in her eyes, and she was still trying to sort through how she now felt about the situation with Alexis given she understood it a bit more.

When Veronica was reaching to grab a tank-top and sleep shorts that she was going to put on for bed, she sadly noticed the other bag from their shopping trip earlier in the day and remembered the sexy lingerie they had picked out together. Given how exhausting and emotional the night had ended up, she reached for the tank-top and shorts instead. She had a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach though as she thought for a moment about how her last attempt at buying sexy lingerie for him turned out so horribly too.

It took her a little longer to get out of her dress than he did with his suit, so he had already finished brushing his teeth and was sitting in bed as she returned from doing the same. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but she wasn't sure it was coming through that well as he still looked completely wrecked. As she walked over to her side of the bed, she saw a picture of him and Heather that he had on his dresser. Heather looked to be around the age that she had been when she saw her in the elevator at the Grand. She recalled how sweet and giddy she had been. Even in the picture, she had that look of pure happiness. Why couldn't things be as simple as they seemed to be when you were young, back when song dedications and love notes passed in class were the best solutions to life's romantic problems?

She smiled fondly thinking about the song dedication. She imagined it was Heather who had engineered it since she was sure Logan would never have done something like that, especially given the look of horror on his face when Heather mentioned it in the elevator. She climbed into bed and sat with her legs crossed, facing him, so she could look at him. He'd been sitting up so his back was against the headboard, waiting before he turned off the lights. She reached out and took one of his hands in hers, giving him a gentle smile, and ran her fingers along the back of his hand, tracing little patterns on his skin.

He sighed and looked sadly in her eyes. "I'm so sorry about disappointing you, and please don't lie and say that you weren't. I unfortunately know that look too well Veronica."

"I know. I'm sorry too though." She smiled more lovingly at him hoping it would help him feel a little better. "I don't really have the right to judge you for that Logan. I wasn't here, and what you did in the years I was gone isn't something you should have to feel badly about." He reached over with his other hand and started playing with her fingers too, gently rubbing his fingers up and down the back of her hand. He was focusing on her hands and not her face, likely trying to avoid seeing any more disappointment from her tonight.

She couldn't lie to him or herself and say that the similarity to Lilly didn't bother her at this point, but she didn't want him to feel so bad about it right now either. She knew it really wasn't fair to him and he'd had such a crappy night on top of it with Alexis bringing David to the play. Throwing some random topic out there seemed to be the only thing she could think of right now to get them out of this mood and at least lighten things up before they went to sleep.

She quickly thought back to Heather and the elevator at the Grand. "Dedicate a song to me."

A completely puzzled look flashed across his face as he was caught completely off guard and wasn't even sure he'd heard her right, "What?"

"You know, at the Grand, Heather dedicated a song from you to try to get me to forgive you. Now's your chance to dedicate a song to me. Tell me what song you'd pick." She gave him a sweet smile, really trying to get him to relax and lighten up a little bit.

At least it did get a little laugh out of him. He smiled and shook his head, and leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "Good night, Veronica." He said softly as he reached for the light switch on the bedside lamp.

"Hey you!" She said playfully and poked him in the chest. "I'm serious. I want a dedication before I go to sleep."

He tilted his head and looked at her oddly. She finally saw a small smile form on his lips. He shook his head again. "What are you 12 now?" he asked in a teasing tone.

She nodded her head vigorously and smiled enthusiastically at him. "Please," she said giving him her notorious head tilt and big pouty lips. He laughed a bit more and shook his head again.

"You have music on your phone right?" she asked trying to get him to play along. He nodded in reply. "Okay, scroll through it and pick a song for me and then I'll let you go to sleep. Otherwise, you know that I can be pretty persistent until I get what I want."

He sighed and finally seemed to relax a little bit. He sat back up and moved a little closer so he could better reach her and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. He brushed his hand across her hair, but he still looked rather forlorn. All of a sudden an embarrassed look crossed his face.

"What?" she asked suspiciously.

He flopped down on his back and covered his face with his arms. "Logan?" She got on her knees and climbed closer so she could remove his arms. He had a totally embarrassed look on his face when she finally got his arms out of the way. She narrowed her eyes at him and then let out a little laugh. "You didn't actually do some other real dedication that I didn't hear did you?"

He finally laughed a little bit more, "No, it's just…" He stopped and covered his face again.

She tickled him under his arms where she knew he was very ticklish. He squirmed away from her and tried to block her from tickling him. "Fine, fine… stop and I'll tell you."

She pulled her hands back and he immediately covered his face again. She laughed and shook her head. "You said you'd tell me!"

"Okay, but this is more than just a little embarrassing and I'd actually forgotten about it until now." He was talking, but still keeping his face covered so she couldn't see him. "Heather was teasing me about the song dedication again too, that Monday when we saw you at dinner. On our drive home, an old song I liked came on and I told her that if I was ever to dedicate a song to you, that would be one that I'd pick and not Nick Lachey."

"That's not that embarrassing, Logan." She reached up and uncovered his eyes again. "I want to hear it now though." She smiled lovingly at him, and finally saw that he didn't look as sad as earlier. She bent down and gave him a quick kiss.

"Okay, I'll find it on my phone and play it, if you'll let me turn the lights off." She grinned and nodded, and climbed under the covers next to him. She knew he was still embarrassed and probably thought hiding in the dark would make it less awkward.

He grabbed his phone from the bedside table, and found the song, then turned the lights off. As he laid back down, she curled up to his side and rested her head on his chest. He wrapped one of his arms around her and then started the song on his phone. It was "Come On Get Higher" by Matt Nathanson. As the song started to play she took a deep breath and hugged him tighter. He took his other hand and gently stroked it along her hair as they laid there and listened.

_I miss the sound of your voice_

_And I miss the rush of your skin_

_And I miss the still of the silence_

_As you breathe out and I breathe in_

_If I could walk on water_

_If I could tell you what's next_

_I'd make you believe_

_I'd make you forget_

_So come on, get higher, loosen my lips_

_Faith and desire and the swing of your hips_

_Just pull me down hard_

_And drown me in love…_

_I miss the sound of your voice_

_Loudest thing in my head_

_And I ache to remember_

_All the violent, sweet_

_Perfect words that you said_

_If I could walk on water…_

… _Just pull me down hard_

_And drown me in love_

_I miss the pull of your heart_

_I taste the sparks on your tongue_

_I see angels and devils_

_And God, when you come on_

_Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on_

_So come on, get higher, loosen my lips…_

… _Just pull me down hard_

_And drown me, drown me in love_

_It's all wrong, it's all wrong_

_It's all wrong, it's so right_

_So come on, get higher_

_So come on and get higher_

_'Cause everything works, love_

_Everything works in your arms._

When the song ended, she wiggled up higher so she could kiss him. He gently cupped the back of her head, with his fingers tangled in her hair. He held her body firmly up against him with his other hand, rubbing it gently up and down her back from between her shoulder blades, down to the curve of her lower back. He wanted her so badly, but didn't want to push her either given how the evening had ended. He loosened his hold on her so she could easily move away if she wanted. She reached her hand up to his cheek and deepened the kiss even after he had released his hold. That was all it took for him to roll her over and deepen his kiss as well.

He knew they probably should talk about things more, but the pull he always felt to her was so magnetic that he just couldn't resist her. It was too easy to just get lost touching her and feeling her wrapped around him. He really couldn't stop himself once her body started arching up against his and she started making soft moaning sounds. He quickly reached for the bottom of her tank-top, and she had it off of her head faster than he could even move his hand. She quickly wiggled out of her shorts as well, and then her hands were quickly pushing down his boxers.

He had started to reach over to his side table, when she pulled his hand back. He had still planned on using protection, even though she was on birth control and they had been able to visit his doctor after lunch, getting clean reports. But she seemed to have a different plan and she quickly took control, positioning her self so he could easily enter her. She grabbed desperately at his hips and pulled him even closer, biting down on his shoulder softly as she did. She let out a low groan as she felt him push in even farther. She really didn't want to let Alexis come between them and had wanted to feel as close to him in every way possible.

Even with her much smaller body, she still had an unnatural ability to position him exactly as she wanted him, and soon she'd flipped them so she could be on top. She reached for his phone and started the song again, moving her body against him to the rhythm of the song. He sat up looking at her lovingly, and tangled his hands into her hair, as he kissed her passionately and moaned as she continued to move to the music. He was able to start the song one more time when it ended, but by the time it finished the next time, they were both too engrossed in each other to notice or start it again.

By the time they finished, she was on the bottom again, and he rolled to lay beside her trying to catch his breath. He gently ran his hand over her body. "I'm going to take a quick shower," he said softly, "join me?" She nodded and smiled contently at him. She still wasn't sure how to get past all her insecurities, but didn't want to push him away either. He'd been the one to call her on her issues before, and she hoped that he'd recover from the blow she'd unintentionally seemed to throw at him tonight and get back to how confident he had been before and they could work through this too.

When they got into the shower, she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled happily up at him. "Thanks for the fabulous song dedication. I really enjoyed it." She leaned up and kissed him briefly.

He finally seemed to be moving on from his earlier mood. He smiled genuinely back at her and kissed her back more passionately. "That's officially me new favorite song," he added playfully.

After the shower, they returned back to his bed and snuggled close together, her back up against his chest with his arms wrapped around her. She wrapped her arms around his. "Good night Veronica," he whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry tonight didn't go at all like I had planned, but I do appreciate that you stuck with me through it all."

She smiled softly, even though he couldn't see her. "Partners, remember? I've got your back and you've got mine. Whether it's potential murderers, or just horrible exes, or even horrible exes who could be potential murders. Promise me you'll be there for me too?"

"Always." He gently kissed her shoulder and nuzzled his nose along her neck. Soon they had both drifted off to sleep.


	21. Chapter 21 - Peace Offering

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 21 – Peace Offering

Logan woke up earlier than Veronica did the next morning. After a few minutes of enjoying the feel of her body still pressed up against his, he slowly removed his arm from under her without waking her up. He sat in bed for a few more minutes and watched her sleep, trying to keep the memories of the bad moments from the night before from coming back to haunt him. She was so peaceful and was making the small little sounds that he still remembered even years after she'd been gone. He knew the realization that Alexis was so similar to Lilly had really bothered her and he still wasn't sure how to make that better for her. He eventually got up carefully and went down to the kitchen to make her some breakfast.

When he was finished cooking, he brought the food and coffee up for her on a tray. He hated to wake her since she was still sleeping and looked so content, but he had really hoped to talk with her before he had to leave for the office, even just some light conversation to gauge how things stood between them this morning. After standing beside the bed for a few moments, he set the tray down on the dresser nearest to the bed. He knelt down on one knee next to her and then brushed his hand over her hair gently to wake her up.

He stroked her hair a few times and then ran his thumb tenderly across her lips, before leaning down and kissing her softly. She started to wake up as he was kissing her, and he could feel her smile against his lips as she returned the kiss.

"Good morning," she said sleepily, after their lips finally parted. She had a dreamy expression on her face as she opened her eyes half way and looked at him. "Mmmm… do I smell bacon?"

He smiled lovingly at her as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Of course, what else would I try to feed you? I made some pancakes too for you." He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips again. He started to stand up to get the tray, and she grabbed his shirt and pulled him back toward her for another more passionate kiss.

"Mmm…" he moaned as pulled away from her lips. "Your breakfast is getting cold."

"It can wait," she said as she pulled harder on his shirt and he fell on top of her on the bed. "Even though I love bacon, this kissing thing is pretty amazing too." She kissed him again and wrapped her arms around his torso. "Do you have to go to work soon?" He nodded with a regretful expression and kissed her quickly again and adjusted himself so he wasn't crushing her.

She ran a hand through his hair, then took her other hand and ran it over his facial hair. She started with the hair right above his lips and ran her fingers around the side of his mouth down to his chin. "Any special reason for this?" she said indicating the hair on his face.

He shrugged and smiled warmly at her, "I guess I thought I looked older with it and it seemed like a good idea when I was running for Mayor. You don't like it do you?" He narrowed his eyes at her to try to get her to be honest.

She smiled back, "It's sort of scratchy, but I suppose you do look older with it." She was still rubbing her fingers over it as she answered.

"Want me to shave it off?"

She smiled a little shyly and nodded slowly. "But only if you want to, if you don't it's fine too."

He laughed lightly and kissed her on the lips quickly then hopped up off of the bed. "Eat," he said as he placed the tray in front of her and kissed her on the forehead.

He headed into the bathroom, and she heard the shower running. He came back out a short while later in only a towel. Her face lit up with a smile as she finished her food and noticed his face.

"Better?" He asked, running his hands over his chin as he saw her look up and smile. She nodded with a pleased look on her face. He walked closer so he could lean over and kiss her, and she put her hands on the sides of his head, lightly cupping his ears with her fingers, and held him there so she could kiss him on his chin and the skin around his lips that was now smooth again. She moved her hands and rubbed them on his smooth face too.

He finally pulled away and gave her another quick kiss on the forehead. "I really do need to get dressed and into the office soon. Will you have lunch with me again today, or are you busy?"

She thought about it for a moment. She had been planning to try to have lunch with Wallace this week, but given how things went last night, she thought Logan could use a little extra attention. "I'd love to."

"Thank you," He said happily as he kissed her one more time, and then headed for his closet. "Should I pick you up at your dad's office?" She told him that should work and if anything changed, she'd let him know as she watched him getting dressed into a nice tailored suit. "Same deal as yesterday? No chasing after Fitzpatrick's or Troy right?" he asked as he was buttoning up his shirt.

"I promise, only checking the tracker again today for that case." She was carefully watching him as he moved around the room getting ready to leave. He seemed calmer again today, and she was relieved to see that some of the anxiety and guilt he'd displayed the night before had subsided.

He had glanced at his phone on the dresser as he was finishing up his tie and let out a deep sigh. A distressed look crossed his face as he stood there looking at the phone.

Veronica had gotten out of bed since she was done eating and was on her way to the bathroom to shower and get changed too, "What's wrong?" she asked as she walked up to him and wrapped her hands around his waist, looking up at him with a concerned expression.

He wrapped his arms around her in return, and then placed his chin on top of her head letting out a frustrated sigh. "I have a meeting this afternoon with Leo for a domestic crimes taskforce up date. How am I supposed to face him knowing what I know now?"

She leaned back so she could see him and looked up at him sympathetically. "We still don't know that he's involved with anything bad. Just act like you normally would. I'm sure it will be fine Logan."

He kissed the top of her head and then leaned back so he could look into her beautiful blue eyes again. "I hope you're right." He finished dressing and gave her one last kiss before he headed for his office.

As he left the house, he felt like things were better between them than they were when they went to bed at least. On the outside, she didn't seem to still be worrying about how much Alexis was like Lilly, though she was likely just keeping that hidden. Logan knew she was a master at burying her feelings when she wanted to. Even though it might not be healthy, he was still relieved to have a bit of a break from the heavy emotional issues they had dealt with the night before. He knew this wasn't going to be easy, and so he really appreciated all the good moments that helped to rebuild their relationship, because those could give them strength to deal with whatever issue might come up next.

Logan had been in his office for about 30 minutes going through his email, when he heard a familiar clicking of heels approaching his partly opened door. He was never really sure why she was the only woman at City Hall who seemed to have that unique cadence to her step, but he could always tell it was her as soon as he would hear her heels clicking on the tile floors. He also knew that Jenny, the receptionist he shared with a couple of the other offices, would normally not buzz into his office to see if it was okay for her to come in if she knew he didn't have anyone already in the office with him.

Alexis rapped lightly on the door as she pushed it open and came into his office. He kept staring at his screen and didn't turn to look at her. He had developed a bad habit of lightly drumming on the keys when he was thinking of what to write or just distracted, and he started doing it as she closed the door.

"Good morning, I brought you a peace offering," Alexis said as she slowly approached his desk. He could see her getting closer out of the corner of his eye, even though he was still staring at his laptop. He could also tell what she was carrying without even looking, just from the smell. "It's your favorite, a caramel latte."

He angrily sighed and finally turned his head to look up at her.

"If you'd rather have plain old coffee and cream, I can go to the break room and make that for you instead," she said with a smug smile on her face.

"A latte isn't going to change me being pissed at you for last night Alexis."

She gave him a slight frown, though there was still a bit of mischief in her eyes, "I know," she paused and narrowed her eyes a bit at him, "especially since you called me Alexis." She walked closer to him and set the cup down next to his laptop. "I'm sorry I brought David last night. I should have at least made sure that was going to be okay with you first." She positioned herself leaning against his desk, facing toward him. That seemed to be her favorite way to talk to him whenever she came in his office. He knew she liked to be in a position that let her feel like she was in control of everything, and trying to tower over him when they would talk was something she routinely did.

"I'm not just mad about that, I'm also mad that you were a bitch to Veronica." He had narrowed his eyes at her more and had an angry expression on his face.

She gave him a genuinely confused look and then arched up an eyebrow as if she'd just realized something, "I really didn't think I was a bitch to her, but I'm sorry if you thought I was. I didn't realize talking about our past was off limits. I figured you were being honest though and not keeping secrets from her."

"That's not what I meant, Lexi." Logan shook his head a bit in frustration.

"So what, you were never planning on telling her things we've done together?" she gave him a surprised look, "So if you took her to Paris, were you planning to pretend we hadn't been there 3 times before and act like it was your first time?"

He shook his head and sighed, "No, you just didn't need to be so forthcoming with so much of our history, especially all at once."

Alexis let out a low chuckle, "Wow Logan, I really didn't think you'd be trying to hide things about the last eight years of your life, especially from her. Didn't you say keeping secrets from her was one of the main things that destroyed the two of you before?"

He put his elbows on the desk and rubbed his temples, "That's not what I'm doing… not what I meant."

She put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze, "I'm sorry, I guess I get it. I'll try to tone it down if I see her again." She hesitated a second before she continued in a slightly angry tone. "Can you really blame me for not liking her though Logan?"

He put his arms down on the desk and looked at her with a puzzled look.

She laughed slightly and shook her head in disbelief that he seemed to actually not understand why. "Don't forget I was the first one who was really with you after she left, and that was already a year after she'd been gone. The amount of pain she caused by abandoning you and never looking back was unbelievable Logan. I was also the one that was there to help you get past that pain, and I know that wasn't easy. I swear it took almost a year for you to finally not look at me like you thought I was going to bolt any time we had some little fight or problem to deal with." She paused and looked at him with sadness in her eyes, "Logan, I'm sorry that I wasn't cut out for a monogamous relationship, but that doesn't mean that I ever stopped loving you, and I sure as hell don't want to see you go through that again. I can't just stand by and watch her destroy you again."

He looked up at her still confused about exactly what she thought was going on. She looked sadly at him and placed her hand on his cheek. "Are you really looking at this objectively, or are you just following your heart like you usually do and praying that you don't get destroyed by her again?"

She shook her head and gave him a grim smile when he still didn't respond. "I know she's on a suspension from the DA's office from talking to my uncle."

"Lexi, I told you to never check up on her through him." Logan's look of confusion changed to one of annoyance.

"I didn't go looking for information Logan," she rolled her eyes slightly at him, "but he knew that she was your ex-girlfriend from Neptune when Pete first hired her. You know my uncle and Pete are friends from law school, and he found out about the suspension right after it happened. He mentioned it when I spoke to him last week."

Logan let out a frustrated sigh, but didn't say anymore.

Alexis ignored his sigh and continued on. "So she gets suspended from her job, obviously she must not be seeing that cop anymore that you saw her with when you were out there last winter or she would have probably just stayed there rather than coming out here when her dad isn't even in town." She paused for a minute to read his expression to see if she was right, and his reaction, or lack of a disagreement, seemed to confirm it. "How convenient for her that you're available and after eight years of no contact from her at all, she shows up here when her life is at some painfully low point looking for something or someone to fix it."

Logan didn't say anything and went back to staring at his computer screen, letting out a little huff of air.

She knew his reaction wasn't one of disagreeing, but she pressed on as if it was, "Or am I wrong and she had been in contact with you sometime in the last eight years that I just didn't know about?" He again didn't say anything, so she continued on taking his silence as confirmation that she was right. "And I'm sure you're hoping that she's going to just leave everything in Massachusetts behind and come back here to give you a second chance at happily ever after." She sighed and knelt down next to his chair so she was below his eye level and put her hand on his knee. He finally turned to look at her again, realizing the shift in her position was significant to what she was trying to say to him. His expression was now grim, though it was difficult for her to tell if he was angry at her or upset about the truth of what she'd said.

Alexis's expression was full of compassion and concern now, "Has she told you that she loves you and that she's going to stay this time? Or is she just using you to feel better about whatever crap happened to her in Massachusetts?"

"It's not like that Lexi." He wanted to so badly to be able to tell her she was wrong, but he honestly didn't know what Veronica was planning to do yet and she hadn't gone as far as saying that she did actually love him. Unfortunately that wasn't something she'd ever been able to directly tell him in the past either.

"Really, are you sure it's not like that? Logan, I know you, probably better than almost anyone. I know how you felt about her after she left. How she was this ideal memory that you held on to that I could never quite measure up to. I really do still love you and I don't want to see you get your heart crushed by her when she leaves again." She waited to see if she could tell what he was thinking before she continued. Unfortunately for her he did have a terrific poker face when he really wanted to and was able to focus on controlling his emotions better now than when she had first met him 7 years ago.

"Do you really think she'll want to stay here in Neptune once she learns that she's no longer suspended and is feeling better about what ever forced her to come back in the first place? Uncle Stephen said Pete wouldn't actually fire her. Pete told him that she's too good of a lawyer, even for being so young, but he wanted to make sure she realized there were consequences for her actions. Don't you think she'll remember everything she hated about Neptune and leave again once they ask her to come back?" She paused a moment, watching the expression on his face to see if she was getting through to him or not. "Of course she's only been back a little over a week, and maybe it will take longer than that for her to remember all the things that drove her away before. How much will she resent you later if she thinks she should stay for you now and then decides it's a mistake after she's quit her job in Massachusetts?"

Logan sighed and shook his head, looking up at the ceiling for a moment.

"I'm not saying this to be petty or jealous Logan, but I really don't want to see you get hurt by her again. I should have said this before, but I didn't realize things had gotten so involved between the two of you. At least not until I saw you both after you'd snuck off for some backstage sex at the play." She hesitated for a second before continuing. "Not that I'm terribly surprised because I know you'd never say no to her, and I also know how amazing you are, so I'm sure she didn't have a hard time jumping right back into fucking you again."

"Lexi, you don't understand," Logan answered with a bit of anger coming through in his tone now, "it's not like that at all."

She looked at him compassionately, "OK Logan, then tell me how it is. What is it I'm not seeing?"

He sighed and looked back at his screen again, "She's not using me. She just doesn't know what she wants to do yet. She does care about me and she doesn't want to hurt me."

She reached up and softly ran her hand across his cheek and looked at him sadly, "I really hope you're right, but please don't blame me for being skeptical. She doesn't seem to have a very good track record for sticking around when things get difficult. And the fact that she ran away when things got tough in Massachusetts just strengthens that argument you know."

"I know she may not stay Lexi. I'll deal with that when it happens," he paused for a moment then added "if it happens." He tried putting on a strong facade so she couldn't see through to the real concern he had under the surface.

She had put her hand back on his leg and was looking up at him with a tremendous amount of concern still. "Well if you're wrong, you always know where I'll be if you need me." She leaned up and gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek. She stroked her hand across his shaved face and gave him a quizzical look about that before she stood and left his office.

As he listened to her footsteps fade away down the hall, he tried to tell himself that she was wrong. Unfortunately he was bothered by the fact that he couldn't easily deny that some of what she said might be true. He just wanted so badly to believe that Veronica would decide to stay and that they could make things work this time. Even if she did go back, he wasn't planning to give up without trying to make it work even if it had to be long distance for a while. He hoped they wouldn't have to add that extra challenge, but he wasn't going to give up just because of it either.


	22. Chapter 22 - Unfriendly Fire

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 22 – Unfriendly Fire

Veronica had spent her morning at Mars Investigations working on updating the tracking information on Troy from the prior 24 hours. He'd followed a pretty similar pattern again, spending a few hours in the afternoon at The Clover, and then returning around 8pm and leaving again at 2am. With his consistent pattern, she thought it would be pretty easy to get into his apartment, leave a bug and snoop around a bit. The harder part would be getting Logan to go along with her plan.

In addition to working on Debbie's case, she had also taken a few calls that had come in on her dad's other cases. She was about to read through the police report for Debbie's case again when her cell phone rang. She recognized the number as one of the generic lines at the DAs office in Massachusetts and she hesitated a moment before she finally answered. "Hello?"

"Hi Veronica, it's Pete." He paused a moment then continued, "I wanted to let you know that your suspension will be over on Friday and you can come back to work on Monday."

"Oh," Veronica wasn't really surprised that he wasn't going to fire her, but she was hoping she'd have more time to figure out what she wanted to do before her decision had to be made. She really didn't want to go back to Massachusetts yet, especially since her dad wasn't even back and she wouldn't get to spend any time with him if she left this weekend. "I'm in Neptune and I was really hoping to stay out here longer to visit with my dad when he gets back from his cruise. If it's okay, I'd like to use a week of my vacation time to stay out here longer since I do have several weeks accrued." She hoped that wouldn't make Pete mad, but given she really wasn't sure what she wanted to do, maybe tempting fate would help her decide.

Pete took a deep breath on the other end of the phone. "I talked to Dillon, Veronica. You're not thinking about staying out there permanently are you?"

She hesitated for a moment, of course Dillon would have to mention her comment to him. She reflected on the fact that it was not always great to have your boss and boyfriend, ex-boyfriend now, be close friends. "I don't know yet, Pete. I'm trying to figure it out still."

"Veronica, you've already put in almost two years here. If you go someplace out there, you'll have to start over, not to mention take the California Bar Exam to be able to practice there. Do you really want to throw away everything you've worked for here? With your performance and seniority, I was going to start letting you lead out on some cases soon."

Of course it was easy for him to say that now, she thought, and then continue to string her along assisting on cases like he had been doing. However he did have a point about starting over in California. "I know Pete, I've been thinking about all of that."

Pete didn't want to lose Veronica and he knew her well enough to know that if you push her in a corner, you may not like the reaction you get. "Fine, take a week of your vacation time. We can get by another week without you, but really think it through Veronica. I wouldn't recommend you transfer out there at this point in your career. Give it a few more years, and then you would have more experience to make it easier to go some place new."

"Thanks Pete. I promise I'll keep thinking about it. I'll talk to you soon."

As she disconnected the call, she sighed and rubbed her fingers in small circles around her temples. She really had hoped she would have more time to figure things out, although she knew that the call was inevitable. She felt like her and Logan still had things to work out. While he wasn't the reason she came back to Neptune, she quickly realized once she saw him again that she still had feelings for him and that she couldn't just ignore them. She couldn't deny that a part of her really did want to give them a second chance to try to see if things could work this time. Of course they could try a long distance relationship, but she wasn't sure that they'd be very successful at that after not seeing each other for 8 years and then only being together for a couple of weeks before she had to go all the way to the other side of the country again.

She sat there for a several minutes contemplating the pros and cons of staying when she heard the outer door open. She glanced at the clock on the wall to be sure it wasn't later than she thought, and then she heard heels clicking on the floor as the inner door opened.

Veronica certainly wasn't expecting to have Alexis visit her after the prior evening, so to say she was surprised was an understatement. "Hello?" Veronica said as she walked into the room, her tone a cross between a greeting and a question.

"Hello Veronica," Alexis said as she walked closer to the desk and smiled politely at her. "I wanted to apologize about last night. I talked with Logan this morning, and apparently I may have come across as being a bit of a bitch. So I wanted to stop by and let you know I was sorry about that."

Veronica was even more surprised at the apology than the fact that she had stopped by, so she nodded slightly and tentatively said thank you.

"Of course that's not the only reason I wanted to talk to you," Her pleasant smile turned a little more serious.

Of course it's not, Veronica thought to herself. Nothing with her seems to be as simple as just giving a sincere apology.

"Obviously I'm not thrilled that you are trying to push your way back into Logan's life."

That's an understatement, Veronica thought while trying to keep a calm expression on her face for now.

"I thought I owed you an explanation about why."

Well this should be interesting, Veronica thought as she continued to look at her in the politest smile she could muster.

"Even though I didn't meet Logan until a year after you had left Neptune, he was still so utterly devastated that you had basically just abandoned and left him. I know that you two weren't together when you left, but that didn't mean that he wasn't still in love with you and the fact that you never tried to contact him after you'd left hurt him so badly, especially considering every other woman he'd ever loved was already gone. I guess you made it clear to him before you left that you wanted him to stay out of your life, so he respected that and didn't try to push his way back into it. Once we started dating, it was obvious that he was just waiting for the next person in his life to abandon him too. It took nearly a year before he finally let go of the anxiety that I was going to leave him like everyone else had. I couldn't stand that terrified and pained look in his eyes every time we'd get into an argument over something. I was so thankful when that reaction disappeared and he seemed to finally feel like he was worthy of having people stay in his life that loved him, even through the difficult stuff."

Veronica immediately thought back to her own observation about that nervous energy being gone now. She knew exactly what Alexis was referring to. Had she actually made it worse when she left or was Alexis just trying to manipulate her with it? Of course being yet another instance of someone he loved leaving would likely have only made it worse.

"So maybe you can understand why I don't think it's a great idea for him to get involved with you again. I'm sorry, but I don't trust you not to leave him and break his heart all over again. If you'd just come back and said that you just wanted to be friends, maybe it wouldn't be so bad, but you had to go and jump right back into sleeping with him again. And for Logan, with you, it could never just be casual. Even if you told him it didn't mean anything more, deep down I doubt he would ever really accept that. I'm sure he's interpreting it to mean more than you might, that he's hoping you are going to stay and work everything out so you can be together again. He'd never believe that his perfect Veronica would be capable of just using him for sex and that you might leave as soon as your suspension is over."

Veronica had a look of disbelief on her face, and a lot of anger was quickly starting to bubble up as well. "I can't believe you think you have the right to judge me like that. You have no idea what my intentions are or how I really feel about him. At least I never cheated on him when we were together."

Alexis didn't seem phased by her reply at all. "You know it's sort of ironic. The huge fight we had before that happened was because I didn't want him to run for Mayor because I didn't want to be stuck in Neptune for another 4 to 5 years."

Veronica gave her a puzzled expression, which Alexis easily interpreted. "And yet because I loved him so much, even when we called off the engagement and he won the election, I couldn't abandon him the same way almost everyone else in his life had, and so I stayed and got the Chamber job." Her expression changed to be a bit more threatening, "I did feel horrible about what happened with David, but I never stopped loving Logan and I don't want to see you fuck him over again."

She gave Veronica a smug look before she continued and before Veronica could object. "And I would think if anyone understood how easy it can be to fall back into the welcoming arms of an ex it would be you. You didn't seem to hesitate long after dumping Logan the first time to get back together with his best friend."

Veronica was completely surprised that she knew about Duncan and the shock was clearly evident in her expression. "Did Logan tell you about that?"

Alexis smiled and shook her head, "No Logan would never say anything to put you in a negative light. But if you give Dick enough shots of Tequila, he's more than happy to tell his best friend's girlfriend what had happened to him that resulted in him being so scared about getting close to other women and trusting them not to destroy him."

After a moment, Veronica was able to regain her composure, although she couldn't help but wonder what else Dick may have shared.

Alexis looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know, I really hoped that after he saw you were happy last winter in Massachusetts that maybe he'd finally just get over you for good, but then you had to come back and dig up all those feelings he had for you again." Veronica wasn't sure she heard her right, did she say 'saw' or 'heard', how could he have seen her? Since she had regained her composure after the Duncan comment, she was glad she was able to still keep it now rather than giving Alexis anything else to react to.

After a few seconds of silence, Alexis seemed to refocus and continued. "Regardless of what you might think about me, I really do still care about Logan and I do want him to be happy. I'm not sure if you really don't know what you're planning to do, or if you're just leading him on with that, but please do me a favor, at least for his sake. If you don't think you're actually going to stick around for good this time, then please decide sooner rather than later. The longer you're here stringing him along the harder he's going to fall when you're gone. And I sure as hell don't want to see him turn into the damaged mess you left last time."

Alexis stopped and watched to see what her reaction was going to be. Veronica was trying hard to keep her composure, but wasn't sure she was succeeding and also wasn't sure what to say. Alexis was very good at targeting in on Veronica's own insecurities. She couldn't help but wonder how many other things Dick had told Alexis about her since she seemed to be able to pick just the right thing to say to really get to her. After a few seconds of Veronica not replying, she must have decided she'd said enough. "Thanks for hearing me out." She gave her a grim smile, headed for the door, and was out of the office a moment later before Veronica could say anything else.

Veronica sat there shell-shocked for a few minutes after she left. She was replaying the conversation again in her head. Did she really hurt him that badly or was Alexis just exaggerating to try to get to her? She wouldn't put it past her based on what she'd observed so far about her. Regardless of how badly it hurt him, Alexis wasn't lying about the fact that Logan had lost a lot of people in his life. She also couldn't help but compare herself to Lianne and how she had run away when things got too hard. She had tried not to make that comparison when she first left 8 years ago, but now it was even more difficult to not think about it. What was it she'd said once to her dad, 'The hero is the one that stays and the villain is the one that splits'? She'd at least been honest with Logan since coming back that she wasn't able to promise him she would stay, but did that make what she was doing any better. She wasn't trying to hurt him and she knew she needed to make a decision about what she was going to do very soon.

She'd been completely lost in her thoughts when Logan walked in for lunch. "So, what are you in the mood for?" he asked cheerfully as he stepped through the door. He'd spent the rest of his morning pushing the doubts that Alexis had put in his mind away before coming to see her. He didn't want to have any trace of worry or negativity for her to pick up on. He'd still been dealing with the pain of seeing that disappointed look on her face the night before when Alexis had visited him earlier, but he'd had a couple of hours to get back his composure again before arriving for lunch. He couldn't change how he'd reacted this morning when she pushed him toward doubting Veronica, but he could control how he reacted from now on since he realized what she was trying to do.

When he had walked in the door, Veronica had her fingers resting against the bridge of her nose, and she quickly looked up as he spoke. Hearing his voice had pulled her out of the deep thought she was in. He could immediately tell something wasn't right by the expression on her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked softly as he walked over to the desk. He knelt down on his knees by the side of her chair and pulled it over so that she was facing toward him. He pulled it a little closer so that he could slide in between her knees, putting them at about the same eye level so he could easily look into her eyes and rest his arms on her legs.

She bit on her bottom lip and tried to regain her composure. He gently ran his hand over the side of her head and looked pleadingly at her to tell him what was going on. "My boss called to let me know my suspension is over Friday and that he wanted me back at work on Monday…" Before she could finish and let him know she was staying longer, he had interrupted her.

"So are you flying back this weekend?" He tried to keep his words neutral but she could see that flicker of hurt behind his eyes. That same look she'd seen the last time she'd been in his suite at the Grand and told him things were over for them for good. She was sure that was the look that Alexis had been talking about and she hadn't seen anything close to it since she'd been back, until now.

She shook her head and replied though her voice was clearly not as calm as it had been before, "No, I wanted to spend some time with my dad, so I'm using a week of vacation time to stay longer."

He nodded but didn't say anything. He looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. "So you're going back after that then?"

He looked back at her and she could see the anxiety in his expression when their eyes met. She gently brushed her hand across the side of his face. "How can you not hate me?" She was trying to hold back tears, but everything Alexis had said to her was hitting her all at once when she saw that hurt expression on his face, and she was quickly losing her battle of self control.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, his brow creasing in confusion.

"For leaving you and not coming back for all those years." Tears were starting to slowly run down her cheeks and she reached up to wipe them away.

He rested his forehead against hers. "Hey we talked about this already. It's okay, you came back now." He leaned back and looked intently in her eyes as he rested his hands on her hips and rubbed them gently, "And it's okay if you need to go back to Massachusetts. I understand that you have a job there. I don't want you to feel like you have to stay because of me." He had been able to keep his voice steady at least hoping she wouldn't pick up on what he was really feeling about her leaving, but then he slipped a bit and had to pause to get control of his emotions again. "Just don't be a stranger this time okay? We can still talk and stay in touch. I'd love to come out and visit you if you'd let me."

She shook her head. "Logan, I can see that look in your eyes again. That same look when I told you at the Grand that you were out of my life forever. How can you say it's okay when I hurt you that much?"

"Of course I'm disappointed that you are going back, but you told me at the start that it was a possibility. It doesn't mean we have to go back to being complete strangers again. I don't understand where this is coming from."

She tipped her head and rested the top of it against his left shoulder. "Alexis stopped by a little while ago." She felt his body go rigid, and he put his hand under her chin and lifted up her head so that she had to look him in the eyes.

"What did she say to you Veronica?" His expression had become more concerned now.

She took a deep breath before speaking. "At first she apologized for how she acted last night." She bit her lip for a second, "Then she went on to explain why she hates me."

He pulled her closer to his chest and ran a hand up and down her back. "Please don't listen to her Veronica. You know how she was last night. She doesn't like that you're back in my life again. I'm sorry she came here, but you've got to know by now how I feel."

She shook her head again and pushed away from his chest. "It's more than that though. I don't want to hurt you again like I did before, but what if we try this and it doesn't work. You told me once that it was better to take a survivable amount of pain in the short term than an unbearable pain from trying and failing later."

He looked lovingly at her and moved a hand so he could run it reassuringly over her head, "Hey, we're different people now and that was a long time ago. I'm more worried about the pain if we don't try than if we fail, because I have all the confidence in the world that we can make this work now." He paused for a moment before adding, "even if we have to span continents to do it." He smiled softly at her as he said it. He couldn't remember what he'd said the morning after the alterna-prom, but it had eventually come back to him a few days later.

She sighed and a small smile spread across her lips, but she was still fighting to hold back more tears. He leaned forward and softly kissed her on the lips for a moment. "I really am glad you didn't get fired Veronica. And I absolutely think we can deal with anything if we stick together and believe in each other. So when do you go back?"

She ran her hand along his cheek, moving it back to run through his hair too. "I don't know, I really haven't decided if I'm going back yet." The corners of his mouth turned up a little bit, though he still looked pensive.

"I don't want you to make a decision you'll regret later. It's your career Veronica, and that's so important. I'd love for you to come back to Neptune, but once my term is over, there's nothing that says I have to stay here either. I hear they have something called the Atlantic over there, and even though I'm sure the surfing isn't as great, I would gladly make that sacrifice to be with you." She sighed and leaned forward to kiss him softly again.

She leaned back and looked carefully at him. "Alexis also said something else, and I don't know if I heard her correctly." His expression changed back to concerned again.

"She said you saw me in Massachusetts last winter."

He sighed and then nodded. "I was in Boston for a conference and decided to go to Cape Cod to maybe see you." She looked at him with a confused look on her face as he continued to talk. "You were assisting on a court case, a murder where the victim had been a police officer." She sighed and nodded, she knew exactly which case that had been. "I sat in the back and watched some of the trial, but had to step out to take a phone call toward the end of the session." He looked a bit sad as he recalled what had happened. "When the session had ended, I was going to try to talk to you. When I spotted you in the hall you were kissing a police officer, Dillon?" Her brows creased and she nodded, "You looked so happy, I just couldn't bring myself to do it, so I left without letting you know I was there."

She sniffed and wiped at her eyes again. "I'm sorry, I wish I had known."

"There's no reason for you to apologize Veronica." He gently ran a finger under her eye catching a tear that she'd missed.

She wasn't sure what made her ask the next question, maybe just a feeling in her gut, but she wanted to know. "Was that the only time?"

He shook his head. "No, I actually flew out to see your Law School Graduation too." He gave her a somber look, not sure how she was going to react to that.

Her expression became even more sad and confused. "My dad and Alicia were there for that. Did they know?"

He nodded, "Yeah, we flew out together, but I didn't want to ruin your day, so I didn't sit with them and then left after it was over."

She couldn't hold in her tears any longer and her heart ached so much. He'd still cared so much about her for all those years and she had done nothing but abandon him.

"I'm such a terrible person," she said through her sobs. "I didn't even know you'd become the Mayor, and you came all the way to see me graduate."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his chest, trying to comfort her and to get her to stop crying. "Shhhh… I told you before, the past doesn't matter. All that matters now is that we're here together again." He felt her head nod against his chest.

She had her face pressed against him, but she turned her head slightly to talk. "I just feel so horrible now Logan for being one of the people who left you. You lost Lilly, your Mom and then Duncan, and I knew all that and I still left and didn't contact you at all in all those years. Alexis never left you Logan. Even though she may have hated Neptune too, she loved you more and she stayed for you. How can you say you love me more than you love her?"

He squeezed her a little tighter and kissed the top of her head. "I don't blame you at all for leaving. At the time, yeah it hurt a hell of a lot when you didn't come back from Virginia. But now I really do believe we would have been doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes if we didn't get time apart. I don't know exactly what Alexis said, but given the talk I had with her this morning, I can sort of imagine how it went. Please don't blame yourself for any of that because I certainly don't blame you."

He leaned back and looked at her, there was still a lot of guilt in her eyes but she was trying to stop her sobbing. He ran his hand over the side of her head, then gave her an apologetic look and spoke. "Sorry, I didn't expect this to happen and your floor is killing my knees. Can we move our therapy session to your couch, all proper like." He gave her a tender smile.

She closed her eyes to stop the tears and nodded. He stood up and reached out his hand to her and pulled her up from her chair. He walked over to the couch and sat down and pulled her into his lap. She turned so she could bury her head into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

He sighed and then in a quiet voice spoke again, "I saw him once."

She sniffed and tilted her head a bit so she could see him, "Saw who?"

He ran his hand up and down her back, "Duncan."

She leaned back and looked at him in disbelief. "What, how?"

He gave her a sad smile, "On one of the trips Alexis and I took to Australia to surf, we were staying in some remote little town. There was a little restaurant that we would go and eat breakfast at after we were done surfing. I thought I'd noticed the same car around us a few times, but figured they were just locals or something. On the fourth morning when we went in to eat, he was actually there at a table eating with his daughter. He didn't seem too surprised to see me, so I figure he somehow knew I was there and had been watching me to see if it was safe to talk to me." Her eyes were wide as she listened to him recall what had happened.

"There was a rather threatening looking guy near the front of the restaurant, who I think was likely a body guard. We didn't talk about it specifically, but I'm guessing that he has some sort of security detail there, probably staffed by people that the Kane's head security guy here might have arranged to make sure they stay safe. I'm guessing they had found out I had gone to Australia and let Duncan know."

He took a deep breath then shrugged, "He seemed to be doing well at least, looked healthy and I guess happy. It was so surreal though Veronica. I guess that was about 5 years ago. His daughter would have been what, around 4?" He shrugged, not really sure how to tell the age of a little kid. "She sure looked like Meg though. Seemed like a really well behaved polite little girl. Of course he didn't give me any specific information. I got the feeling they still move around a lot and probably weren't living close to where we were, but had still tracked me down somehow."

He sighed again, "If he's still in Australia, he didn't bother to try to connect the last time I went though. I sure hope they are still doing well. It's just crazy to think about how that all turned out and that he really is pretty much alone out there with no one but his daughter."

Veronica started rubbing the back of his hand that was resting on her leg as he was talking. She couldn't image how strange that would be to just walk into a restaurant and see him sitting there. She had always hoped they were able to have some sort of happy life wherever they ended up. When he was done she smiled warmly at him and gave him a gentle kiss. "I'm glad you got the chance to see him once at least."

He was glad to see that listening to his story had seemed to calm her down from how upset she was right before. He kissed her on the cheek and ran his hand down from the top of her head to the small of her back. "So lunch?" She gave him a little smile. "I recall something about the dangers of a ravenous bobcat?"

"I'm sorry for dumping all of this on you during your lunch break." She said as her expression turned sorrowful.

He pressed his lips to hers and gave her a deep kiss, "You don't have to apologize for every little thing that doesn't go perfectly okay?" She smiled a little and nodded. "Like I said before, I don't expect this to always be easy. 8 years is a lot of baggage to sort through and a lot of time to make up for. I'm sure this won't be the last difficult thing we'll have to deal with, but I'm not that same volatile jackass I was back then. I really have grown up and I think for the most part, I can handle a lot of things like a mature adult now." He smiled a little mischievously, "or at least draw on some of my sub-par acting genes and pretend to be a mature adult."

Her smile was beginning to be a bit more genuine now, "I'm glad one of us can," she huffed out softly. He ran his hand over her head and gave her another quick kiss.

"Stick with me kid, I'll have you trained in the art of faking it no time." He kissed her quickly once again.

He looked thoughtful for a minute then grabbed his phone out of his pocket and pressed a few times on the screen. "Hey, let's 'not' be mature adults tomorrow and play hooky. You sort of still owe spending a day with me sailing to Catalina." He gave her a tentative look, since he wasn't sure if mentioning that was going to upset her or not. He was relieved when she smiled back instead of getting upset about it. "So wanna skip class with me tomorrow and go on a very overdue date?" He gave her a playful smirk as he asked.

She looked up toward the ceiling, raising up one of her eyebrows, as if she was trying to remember what else she might need to do. "I think I can pencil you in." She smiled and gave him a quick kiss. "When do you need to get back to your office?"

He glanced at his phone again. "I could maybe stay for another 45 minutes, but then I really need to get back. I'm sorry, I wish I could just spend the rest of the afternoon with you."

"Yeah, being the mature adult sort of sucks doesn't it?" She was finally starting to get a little bit of her teasing banter back.

"Yeah, how does that make you feel that I'm the mature adult here?" He laughed lightly, and then gave her a little push off his lap. She gave him a slightly annoyed look for the push but stood there curious about what he planned to do.

He stood up and took her hand and lifted it to his mouth for a quick kiss before he spoke. "There's a great little food cart a block over that your dad and I sometimes grab lunch at. We can walk over there and come back and eat here and I'll still be on time for my next meeting if that works for you." She walked over and grabbed her sunglasses from the desk to cover up her still slightly red eyes, then smiled and nodded as he reached out his hand for hers again.

After she locked the office door, he put his arms around her and pulled her in for a kiss, spinning her slightly until her back was against the wall. He held his forehead against hers for a moment and smiled at her. "Every time I've come to see your dad here at his office I always remember how amazing it felt to kiss you again right before you went to New York after graduation." She smiled lovingly back at him and kissed him once more. He smiled and ran a hand over a spot on the wall by her head. "I was going to install a plaque here, but thought your Dad might not appreciate that reminder every time he came to work." He gave her a playful wink and another quick kiss.

She sighed and ran her hand over his cheek. No one ever really kissed her like he had, always putting so much more into it than just a simple kiss. "Every kiss from you always feels amazing you know," she said lovingly. He smiled and kissed her one more time before they headed down the stairs to get lunch.


	23. Chapter 23 - Ultimatum

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 23 - Ultimatum

When Logan returned to City Hall he headed straight to Alexis' office. He gave her assistant Jayne a friendly smile and asked if Alexis was free. Jayne nodded and he thanked her with a charming grin, and then walked into Alexis' office closing the door behind him. Logan immediately dropped the friendly facade as the door closed and his expression grew extremely dark and angry as he exhaled deeply.

"You lied to me Alexis. I'd hardly call what you did earlier 'toning it down'. Do you have any idea how furious I am with you? You had no right to go and harass Veronica." He was scowling at her as he spoke with his fists clenched at his sides.

She stood up and walked around her desk to move closer to him, mostly to show she wasn't intimidated by his temper. "I went to apologize for last night, and I guess I got a little carried away once I was there." She shrugged trying to play it off as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Oh please Alexis, we both know you had every intention of doing more than just apologizing when you went there. Maybe I wasn't clear this morning, but I will make it crystal clear for you now. Stay the hell away from Veronica and if you don't, we will no longer be friends."

He knew that Alexis didn't like ultimatums so he wasn't surprised when her reply came back flippantly, "Won't that be a little hard if she's coming to events and always with you."

He let out an agitated huff of breath. "Don't play with me Alexis. You know what I mean. Don't go near her when I'm not around. If you find yourself alone with her you'd better be perfectly polite or I swear we are done being friends."

"Come on Logan don't you think you're being a bit over dramatic?" She tried to put her hand on his arm to calm him down and he pushed it away.

"We've been friends a long time Alexis, but if you make me take sides I will choose Veronica every... single... time." He stressed the last three words to be sure she knew he was very serious.

He narrowed his eyes and studied her face carefully. "Do you understand me Alexis? I'm completely serious about this. You know me well enough to know what it's like if you cross over the line and what you did earlier was totally over that line. It was one thing to bitch to me this morning about why you're not happy she's back in my life, but completely unacceptable that you went over to her office and treated her like that. I didn't want to make a scene last night at the performance, so I didn't say anything there, but I told you this morning that I was mad at you for it. I can't believe that you still had the nerve to go and harass her after you told me you'd back off. I really thought I could trust you to keep your word, but obviously I was wrong."

She nodded complacently. She reached out to touch his arm again as she spoke, "I'm sorry Logan."

This time he pulled his arm away from her. "No, not this time Alexis. Did you really think I would just let it go when I found out about it? You don't get to just apologize and expect everything to be fine, not now. If you really want to still be part of my life and actually do care about me then you'd better stop how you're acting and give up this agenda of trying to cause problems for the two of us."

He turned and stormed out of her office back to his own before she had a chance to say anything else. He caught the shocked look on Jayne's face as he left. Apparently he had spoken a bit louder than he planned to. He gave her a quick apologetic look as he walked by.

He tried to calm himself down as he walked from her office back to his. He had several appointments and he didn't want to let his lingering anger impact those. Felicia was standing at Jenny's desk chatting with her when he got there. Felicia raised her eyebrow at him, since she could tell he was mad about something. "Everything OK, Logan?" He nodded and headed to his office without saying a word.

She poked her head in after him first, and seeing he'd sat at his desk, she then followed him in and closed the door behind her. He had picked up a pen from his desk, clicking the top of it repeatedly, and was acting like he was looking at papers on his desk. She studied him for a few moments before she spoke in a calm tone. "Don't forget I have my first ultra sound appointment this afternoon, so I'll be taking off for the day in a little while." She walked over and flipped one of the papers over so it was at least right side up and smirked at him as he looked up at her.

He realized he was still tense from being mad at Alexis and took a deep breath, then smiled at Felicia. He knew she wouldn't let him get away with anything. "That's right, I'm sure Dan is excited about it too. Tell him I said hi." She nodded and walked toward the other edge of his desk, still eyeing him suspiciously.

Felicia had worked with him since he became the Mayor, and they got along really well and she could usually tell if there was something bothering him. Although anyone could have told he was upset when he had walked back into their office. "Want to talk about it?"

He let out a frustrated sigh. "Alexis and I… had a bit of a disagreement I guess you could say."

Felicia's lips turned up in a pleased grin. She didn't get along at all with Alexis, and wasn't surprised that she'd done something to make him angry. Especially since she knew some of the history between Logan and Veronica, and that she was back in town. Felicia had also gone to Neptune High in the class below them, but she had heard enough rumors to know a bit of their story.

"I can't say I'm sorry to hear that, though if you did tear into her, I'm sorry I missed it." She gave him a sly grin and raised one of her eyebrows at him. He shook his head and smiled a bit more at her. He knew Felicia didn't care at all for Alexis and the two of them had butted heads on things more than once.

Logan decided he'd rather change the conversation than add fuel to the rumor mill at City Hall though. "So do you find out if it's a boy or girl this time?"

She shook her head and grinned back at him, "Not yet, still too early for that." There was a door that connected their offices and she headed toward that instead of back out to the front. "Oh, I got your text and moved the couple of appointments you had tomorrow so you are all clear to take the day off and lounge around Catalina with Veronica." She cocked her eyebrow at him with a slightly mischievous smile. "I'm sure you'll show her a fabulous time."

"Thanks, you're the best." He smiled genuinely at her and gave her a little wink as she took one last look at him and smiled before going into her office and closing the door.

Logan let out a deep breath once the door was closed and he was alone again. He was still furious that Alexis had gone over and upset Veronica. He was thankful that they were taking off later in the day to spend time together in Catalina, just the two of them without any outside interference. If he only had a little over a week to convince her that they could work together this time, he didn't want to waste any time. He was still holding on to the small glimmer of hope that she would stay since she still seemed undecided about it. He hoped that once Keith was back, she might also realize how nice it would be to live close to him again. But he was also worried about what impact moving back could have on her career and he didn't want her to jeopardize that.

He took out his cell phone to make a few calls to make arrangements for his yacht and their trip to Catalina before his first appointment arrived. He wanted to make sure it was a perfect date and he was hoping that he could help her push away those insecurities that Alexis had brought up again. He was just finishing his arrangements when Jenny buzzed in that his 1:30 appointment was there.

Logan's first few meetings went by fairly quickly, leading up to his last meeting of the afternoon with Leo. He had been dreading it as he sat through the other ones. When Leo came in, Logan took a deep breath and did his best to appear completely at ease. He said hello as Leo took a seat across from him on the other side of his desk with a few file folders in his hands.

"Hey Logan, good to see you." He fidgeted a bit with the folders, "How's Veronica enjoying being back in town?"

"She's been a bit shell-shocked I think by some of the things that have changed while she was gone, but overall I think she's doing well." Leo normally was pretty calm, so the fact he kept fidgeting with the files and seemed to be acting nervously made Logan a little suspicious.

"Did she say if she's found out anything on that suicide case she asked you to get for her?" Logan noticed Leo also seemed to be making less eye contact than he normally did when they would meet, but wondered if he was just being overly sensitive given the situation.

Logan decided the best approach would be to pretend he didn't know anything about where Veronica was with the case. "You know, her investigative work was always a bit of a problem area for us, so we haven't really been discussing that, so I'm not sure. We've been spending a fair amount of time together though, so I'm not sure if she's had much time to work on it yet. I took her horseback riding and out to my beach house over the weekend and then to the performance at Hearst last night."

Leo nodded and fidgeted a bit more with the folders. "I was hoping I'd get to see her before she heads back. Be sure to tell her she should stop in and say hi." He still seemed to be avoiding direct eye contact with Logan. Although thinking a bit more about it, Logan realized Leo could be nervous because he had also dated Veronica and knew how Logan felt about her, and maybe he was just feeling awkward about that situation.

Logan said that he would be sure to let her know. Leo opened the top folder and pulled out a report and handed it to Logan. Leo started going over his update on the domestic crime taskforce work they were supposed to review when his phone rang and he took it out of his pocket. As he glanced down at the screen his expression took on a look of concern.

"Hey if you need to take that, you can use my office. I need to make a call anyway, so I'll step into Felicia's office and give you some privacy." Leo nodded in agreement and Logan put the report down and grabbed his own phone, discretely pushing the intercom button for Felicia's office.

Logan gave him a smile and a nod as he opened and walked through the connecting door, closing it behind him, and then hurried to her desk to make sure the connection was still on.

"This isn't a good time," He heard Leo's voice come through the intercom speaker. Leo was keeping his voice low, but was close enough to Logan's desk that he could still hear what he was saying. He definitely sounded annoyed at whoever had called.

"I told you I'd keep an eye on her and not to worry about it…. No, she hasn't come to see me about it yet…. Yes, I took the letter out before I sent over the file, so there shouldn't be any way she'd connect it back to you, at least not from anything in the file, but if you were sloppy then that's not my fault….Maybe it was just a coincidence that she ended up there…" He heard Leo sigh in frustration, "If she finds something and brings it to me then I'll have to reopen the case. You know she's a good investigator, so I hope for both our sakes she doesn't. The detective that worked on it was a rookie and to him it looked like a simple suicide so it didn't raise any red flags and he didn't dig too deep, but she's not some rookie." Leo seemed to get more agitated, "Why the hell didn't you think of that before. You know she'll probably check that if she hasn't already, but then I would think she would have brought it to me if she found it. I don't think there's anyway I can get in the system myself to get rid of it, but if I can I will." Leo sounded even more upset now with whomever he was talking too, though Logan was sure it had to be Troy. "There are other ways for a body not to be found you know, you shouldn't have been so careless… You know this wasn't part of our original arrangement so don't get pissed at me…" Logan was quickly becoming more and more concerned the longer the call went on. "No, just stay away from her and let me handle it. We don't need any more complications than what you've already caused."

Logan heard him stand up and figured he must have ended the call without saying anything else. He quickly hit the off button on the intercom and put his phone up to his ear as he heard Leo tap lightly on the connecting door.

"Yeah, that sounds great, thanks." Logan said rather loudly into the phone, as Leo opened the door and peeked in. Logan pretended to end his call and smiled at Leo. "I'll go over the report and let you know if I have any other questions. Otherwise I think we're probably good until next week's update."

Leo nodded and started to walk toward the desk and Logan stood up. Leo reached out his hand to shake good bye and Logan hesitated for a second then extended his as well.

"So is there a poker game tomorrow night?" Leo asked as he headed toward the other door to leave. "I might be able to make it this week."

"Probably not," Logan replied, "I'm taking Veronica to Catalina tomorrow and I don't think we'll be back early enough, so I think we'll just cancel it this week. I'd rather blow my money on a day with her than lose it again to Weevil anyway."

Leo chuckled and nodded. "Don't forget to let her know she'd better stop in and see me before she heads back to Massachusetts."

Logan nodded and watched as Leo left the office closing the door behind him. Once he was gone Logan let out a deep breath, and then hurried back to his office to grab his jacket and car keys. He headed straight to Mars Investigations.

Logan parked as close as he could to the office. He knew she should be safe, but listening to Leo just filled him with so much fear that he had to see her just to be sure. He took the stairs two at a time and quickly opened the door to the office. She had her back to the door, putting away some files when he came in, and spun around to see who it was. At first she smiled when she saw it was him, and then her smile faded as he approached her.

"Hey, I thought you were going to text me when you left the office and we'd just meet back at your place. I still need to stop by my dad's for a few more clothes." She gave him a concerned look as she started studying his expression as he quickly moved across the room to her.

"What's wrong?" She let out a large huff of air as he finally reached her and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. She was still holding a few file folders and he crushed them up against his chest along with her. "Small body… needs air…. Logan?"

He released his embrace but still kept his hands on her waist. "I'm sorry. The meeting with Leo turned out to be a bit concerning." She gave him a questioning look and wrapped her hands around his waist, setting the files behind him on the desk as she did.

He took a deep breath and told her as much as he could recall from the phone call. "I wish I'd thought to record it with my phone." He looked frustrated with himself for not thinking of it then. He'd thought of it on his drive over to her and knew it would be something she would have immediately thought to do.

"Hey, you did awesome. I'm impressed you thought to flip on the intercom." She gave him a proud smile and a quick kiss on the lips, then her expression turned somewhat grave. "I'm sorry that it doesn't sound very good for what Leo's involvement might be though." She let out a frustrated sigh.

"I don't know what I'd do if Troy comes after you Veronica." His expression was a mixture of fear and anger. He moved one of his hands from her waist to run it through her hair, gently cupping the back of her head when he was done. "I don't think Leo would hurt you, but I don't trust Troy. Leo seemed to be trying to keep him from going near you though at least. But what if Troy doesn't listen to him?" He ran his hand through her hair again and looked at her with a worried expression.

She smiled warmly at him, and squeezed him a little tighter. "I know you aren't going to like this, but that's one reason we should try to get a bug in his apartment and see if there's any evidence there sooner rather than later. The longer we wait, the more chance there is for him to do something." Logan frowned at her but didn't disagree. "At least I have the tracker on his car still, so if he was to head over to this side of town, I would know. Mac has this really nifty app she gave me and I can actually use it to have an alert sent if the tracker passes past certain coordinates." Logan sighed and relaxed a little bit, but was still keeping a firm hold on her, and didn't look happy.

"And tonight and tomorrow, I'll be under your watchful protection." She said flashing a loving smile at him. "I guess you'll just have to keep me in your sight at all times." She flashed a seductive grin at him.

He exhaled deeply, and she finally saw the corners of his mouth turn up a little bit. "I'll gladly make that sacrifice to be sure you're safe." He leaned down and kissed her passionately.

She smiled as their lips separated, with a dreamy look on her face. "Mmmm… we should probably get going if we're going to make it to Catalina for dinner." He nodded in agreement, and was starting to relax more now that he knew she was safe with him.

He convinced her to drive straight back to his place and then they would stop off together at her dad's on the way to the yacht club. She gave him a look that implied he was being a little bit too protective, but she agreed anyway. As they drove back to his house with him following her, she realized that she really did appreciate his concern this time around rather than feeling completely suffocated like she had in the past. He seemed to be dealing with things better this time around too. Instead of demanding that she drop the case, he was doing his best to help her with it and be there for her. Of course that might change when she got around to actually going into Troy's apartment, but for now she was pleased that they were working well together on it.


	24. Chapter 24 - Dinner on Catalina

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 24 – Dinner on Catalina

After they stopped by Keith's house they headed to the yacht club. Logan retrieved both their bags from the trunk of his car and put them over his shoulder to carry them to the yacht. He reached out his hand for Veronica to take and they started heading toward the docks. His yacht was down a different slip than Dick's so they took a different route. The boats along the dock they were walking on were much smaller than Dick's, more like the size of the yachts that she frequently saw in Cape Cod.

When they reached his boat, he stopped and extended his arm in a grand gesture, "Welcome aboard" he teased as he helped her step from the dock onto the deck of the boat. He smiled playfully at her, "I know it's not as big as Dick's, but it can out race his any day." He waggled his eyebrows and winked at her. "You know what they say about compensating for other things."

She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.

He smiled lovingly at her and grabbed her around the waist pulling her close to him. "I also love that we're the only two people on the boat, while Dick always needs a staff of people whenever he takes his out. I suppose he could drive it himself, but Mac never trusts him with it." He leaned in and gave her a passionate kiss and exhaled blissfully as he finished.

He led her down below deck to put the bags in the bedroom suite area. Even though the yacht wasn't a floating hotel like Dick's, it was still very luxurious and roomy. There was the master suite, and then a kitchen, dining and lounging area below deck. The living area was of course equipped with a flat screen TV, with expensive looking fixtures in the kitchen area, as well as top end furnishings throughout. There was also plenty of seating and space on the top deck area, with some of it open and some of it protected from the sun and weather.

"I called the yacht club this afternoon and had them stock the fridge and pantry for us, so if you want a snack or a drink before we get to the island, just let me know or feel free to help yourself." Logan told her as they walked through the kitchen area.

They returned above deck and she offered to help him untie the ropes so they could leave.

"Did you do much boating out in Massachusetts?" Logan asked has he started untying one of the ropes.

She nodded and smiled a little grimly, "Yeah," she hesitated then continued, "Dillon's family is all there and several of them have boats, so we spent a fair amount of time out on the water."

He noticed her hesitation. "Hey, you don't have to feel bad talking about things you did with Dillon, okay?" He gave her a warm smile. "Not only am I not a psychotic jackass anymore, I generally don't get as jealous either." He gave her a little wink then added, "Well unless you're going to strip clubs with Casey in provocative outfits." She smirked at him. "I just don't want you to feel like you have to tip-toe around things that might bother me. I realize you had 8 years of things that happened without me, just like I did, and I don't want you to feel you have to worry about that."

She nodded as she finished up with her last rope, and he stepped closer so he could grab her for a quick kiss. He smiled at her then headed toward the bridge area. She followed him and sat on a seat next to his as he steered the boat out of the marina.

She watched him as he checked various instruments on the panel and made sure they were headed in the right direction. She let out a happy little sigh as the wind blew around them once they were out of the harbor, and he glanced over at her and smiled. She figured she should try taking a cue from him and not be so stressed about their past. "I really do love your yacht, even if it's not as big as Dick's," she gave him a playful smile as she spoke. "Have you had it very long?"

He smiled back with a knowing grin before answering. "Thanks, I've only had it a couple of years. I really haven't had a lot of time to use it though, so I guess I've mostly just taken it out for short day trips to take Heather and some of her friends out to Catalina or to just play around in the ocean. I got it right before I became Mayor, and so I haven't had as much leisurely time as before when I was just an unemployed college-grad philanthropist. My original plan was to take it along when Dick and Mac take theirs out, so I could have more privacy and easier access to shore and remote locations, but then I got saddled with troublesome adult responsibilities." He gave her a playful wink. "Did you want to drive it?"

She shook her head with a look of uncertainty on her face. He reached over and grabbed her hand and pulled her up and placed her in front of him, so he could reach around her and put her hands on the wheel. "Come on, it's easy." She'd put her hair up so it wouldn't blow around in the wind, giving him easy access to her bare neck. He inhaled deeply, and then started kissing along her neck below her ear as she steered the boat. He put his hands around her waist and gave her a tight embrace closing any space between their bodies. She leaned back against him, moaning a bit as he continued moving his mouth over her body and his hands started roaming down toward her thighs.

He glanced at his watch. "We're a little ahead of schedule for our dinner reservation," he purred in her ear, "Want to cut the engine and float around out here in the open ocean and try out the bed?" He reached over and pulled back the throttle to slow down the boat.

She let go of the wheel and turned so she was facing him. He smiled down seductively at her and as she looked eagerly back up at him and tipped up to give him a passionate kiss, he reached over and cut the engine. He lifted her up so she was resting on the ledge by the steering wheel, kissing her deeply before he took her hand and led her back down below deck.

As he entered the suite, he pushed a button on a control panel near the door and music started to play in the room. Her mouth turned up into a playful grin as she recognized the song as his dedication from the other night. He grabbed her and held her close, spinning her a bit to the music and singing along with the lyrics before he pulled her down onto the bed on top of him when the lyrics came on that said '_Just pull me down hard and drown me in love'._

There were some rather large windows in the suite and she looked up at them for a moment then gave him a questioning glance. He smiled mischievously and kissed her again. "Don't worry, they're treated so no one can actually look in." She smiled and then sat up so she could remove her shirt and he quickly pulled his off too. She leaned back down to kiss him and he ran his hands over her back.

"You are so beautiful," He said to her as he ran one hand over her hair and placed a loving kiss on her lips. She smiled back and then ran her hand through his hair and gazed into his eyes.

"And you are amazing," she said back with a look of lust in her eyes. He looked at her intently, and then rolled them over so he could rest on the top of her. His eyes were getting darker as he gazed at her and then he started placing open mouth kisses over her neck and shoulders, working his way down to her chest.

He stood up off the bed so he could finish getting his clothes off and then helped her take off the rest of hers. His look was full of love and adoration as he climbed back onto the bed with her. He pressed his lips to hers and then groaned into her mouth when she reached down and stroked him, catching him a bit off guard. She arched up against him, as his mouth traveled down to her body again.

There was a slight rocking from the waves, and she started moving her body in the same rhythm against him. "I've never had sex out in the middle of the ocean before," she whispered breathlessly in his ear after he had started moving with her. "You make me feel so amazing Logan," she moaned into his ear as he slid into her and kept moving along with the ocean waves.

"Nobody has ever been as perfect for me as you are," he breathed against her skin as he continued to move with her and place kisses along her body. "I love you so much Veronica."

She was breathing so hard by that point, she could hardly reply, though he wasn't really expecting her to say she loved him back. She did surprise him slightly though with a response, which she was barely able to say between her panting breaths and low moans, "I don't want to leave you ever again Logan." He held her tighter and thrust into her faster as he realized what she had said. It was more than he was expecting her to say at this point and his sudden change of pace quickly pushed them both over the edge.

He had rolled over and pulled her on top of him as they laid there for a few minutes catching their breath. He was stroking her hair softly and running one hand over one of her hips.

She angled up so she could lightly rest on her elbows across his chest and look into his eyes. "I really do mean it Logan, I don't want to leave you again." Her eyes were filled with love as she gazed at him, but there was still some worry there too.

He smiled up at her and brushed at her now messy hair. "I don't want you to leave either," He looked at her more intently, "but that doesn't mean that you should quit your job and come back if that's not really the best thing for you. You still have a week to think more about it right?" She sighed and nodded. "I think you should take more time before you decide. I promise I'll still be there for you no matter what you choose if you want me to." He gave her a soft kiss and she smiled slightly as their lips parted. "You should talk more to Roger if you think you'd like to work for his office. He really is a great guy and I'm sure you'd be able to do a lot of great things here too. I can call him tomorrow and set something up for Friday if you'd like."

She smiled more genuinely at him. "Who would have ever thought Logan Echolls would be lining up job interviews for me."

He smiled and kissed her gently again. "I know, you really have fallen back into the Bizarro World of Neptune. Get used to it, Bobcat."

He gave her another tight squeeze, "While I would love nothing more than to just lay here all night with your naked body draped over me, we should probably get dressed and head to the island so we can make it to our dinner reservations."

"Yes, you've got to keep me fed if you want to enjoy me in top performance," she said playfully.

"Oh I almost forgot, I had a present delivered for you." She gave him a questioning glance as he gently rolled her off of him and stood up to move to the closet. He pulled out a garment bag and unzipped it for her. She sat up and scooted closer so she could see what was inside. "Monique sent this over for you to wear to dinner tonight." It was a beautiful blue dress with a deep neckline and flowing skirt that looked perfect for an evening on Catalina.

"Thank you, it's beautiful Logan, but you don't have to keep buying me dresses." She gave him a slightly scolding look, but there wasn't much force behind it.

"I know, but it's just too much fun." He smiled at her and bent down closer so he could kiss her and laid the bag across the bed "Let's take a quick shower, and I'll get back up to the bridge so I can get us to the dock in time to eat." She nodded and followed him into the bathroom with a blissful expression on her face.

They were almost to the dock when Veronica returned to join him up on the bridge. The dress fit perfectly of course since Monique was an expert at finding just the perfect dress once she had fitted someone. Logan sighed in appreciation as he glanced over at her. "You look absolutely stunning." He reached out for her hand so he could pull her closer and give her a kiss. He positioned her in front of him again so he could keep her close while still driving the boat. She rested her hands on top of his on the wheel and gently caressed the back of them while she looked out at the island and all the other boats.

"It really is beautiful here, Logan." She said over her shoulder to him.

He nodded and kissed her shoulder, just above the edge of her dress. His phone was sitting near them and it chimed as a call came in. He wasn't surprised that it was Alexis, but he had no desire to talk to her yet, so he hit the ignore button. Veronica saw the name, and turned so she could give him a questioning glance.

He shrugged in response to her look and shook his head, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I had a little talk with her when I got back from lunch." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "I let her know she's not to bother you again, so if she does, be sure to tell me okay?" She nodded slowly, but was still looking at him as if she expected to hear more of what happened. A mischievous grin formed across his face, "I only wish we'd been in my office when it happened so I could have reused my 'there's the rectangle with the knob' line again."

She laughed softly and leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. "Sorry I missed it." He smiled lovingly back at her.

"I did feel horrible though when I saw the look on her assistant's face when I walked out of her office. Poor Jayne, she's not really good with conflict. Which is sort of ironic since she got stuck working for Alexis, the queen of drama."

Once they docked the boat at one of the visitor mooring slips, they started walking up the sidewalk heading toward the restaurant. Logan had made reservations at an Italian restaurant that had a spectacular view of the ocean. They held hands as they walked toward the restaurant enjoying the warm evening air.

He was about to open the door at the restaurant for her when a woman approached from behind them on the sidewalk.

"Logan?" The tall brunette woman said with a cheery surprised tone. They both turned toward the voice. Logan's expression immediately took on a look of surprise at seeing whoever the woman was.

Veronica couldn't help but think he certainly had a specific type these days, as yet another tall, absolutely gorgeous, brunette woman wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tight hug. He hugged her tentatively back and then continued to look shocked to see her there.

"Vanessa?" He paused for a second then continued. "I thought you were in Vienna?" He had a very confused expression on his face as he spoke.

She smiled broadly back at him and placed her hand on her somewhat swollen belly, "I sort of had a change of plans." Logan's eyes grew even wider and his mouth opened slightly as his eyes dropped to her stomach. "Surprise," she added with a big smile. Veronica estimated she was probably 4-5 months pregnant based on the size of her baby bump.

While Logan stood there apparently still in shock, Vanessa turned and looked at Veronica. She gave her a big friendly smile and looked back at Logan, who still seemed to be speechless. Veronica was really hoping that his speechless reaction wasn't because of the worst case scenario that had instantly floated through her mind as she took in the scene. Why were surprises here lately not necessarily good ones.

Veronica smiled politely back at Vanessa. "Hi, I'm Veronica, Logan's girlfriend." Logan's focus snapped immediately from Vanessa's stomach to Veronica's face as he heard her introduction. The shocked looked quickly disappeared and a large grin spread across his face.

"Aren't you just the cutest little thing?" Vanessa said enthusiastically as she quickly reached out to give Veronica a hug. "It's so nice to meet you." Veronica was completely thrown off by the hug and awkwardly patted Vanessa's back.

"I'm Vanessa…" she paused for a moment, realizing she probably already knew that since Logan had said her name already, "Vanessa Calloway."

"Vanessa is Alexis' younger sister." Logan explained, still sporting a rather large grin on his face from hearing Veronica call herself his girlfriend. He was looking lovingly at her and reached out to squeeze her hand for a moment.

Vanessa smiled mischievously at Veronica, "Please don't hold that against me though! I promise I'm nothing like her." She gave Veronica a little wink and laughed softly.

Logan's blissful expression suddenly became more troubled as he shifted his focus back to Vanessa and appeared to be piecing together what was going on, "You're in Catalina."

"I always knew you were one of the smart ones," Vanessa said as she playfully patted his cheek and gave Veronica a humorous smile.

"Vanessa," Logan's tone was more serious now, "Please don't tell me you're here with Tyler." He looked at her stomach again and then back up at her face with more of a pained expression in his eyes.

Vanessa still maintained her same cheery smile even though she could tell Logan was clearly not happy with her. "He's doing really well Logan, and he's excited about the baby."

Logan gave her a stern look of disbelief. "What do your parents think of you being here with him?"

Vanessa bit on her lip for a moment before she answered him. "They don't actually know I'm here. Please don't tell Lexi you saw me, or them for that matter. I'm just not ready to deal with them yet, but I'll tell them soon."

He sighed in frustration and nervously ran his hand through his hair. "Vanessa, I don't like the idea of no one knowing you're here, especially if you're living with Tyler."

"Well you know I'm here, so now someone does know." She gave him a sweet smile and head tilt. Veronica tried not to laugh as she watched her give him a look that she knew very well. "Please don't tell them yet." She switched to a pout with her head tilt.

He sighed and shook his head. "Fine, but you need to tell them soon or I will." She smiled and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. His expression was still grim as she stepped back. "Promise me you'll call me if you need anything okay? I'm just a phone call away. And Vanessa, if he…" he hesitated for a moment and looked more concerned, "if things get bad, promise me you'll leave?" He reached out and squeezed her shoulder with a very solemn look, "It's not just you now." Veronica recognized his look. It was the same look he had when he came to ask her for help to find Trina's boyfriend who had beaten her up, but this time his expression was mixed with even more concern and fear.

Vanessa kept her cheery smile on her face and nodded at him. She glanced for a moment back at Veronica and smiled at her as well. "So how long are you in Catalina for?"

Logan looked at Veronica and his smile started to slowly return, "We're only here through tomorrow. It was just a quick last minute trip and we have to be back on Friday."

"I'd love to have lunch with you before you go back." Vanessa smiled sweetly at both of them.

Logan gave Veronica an uncertain look, "I don't know Vanessa…"

Veronica smiled lovingly at Logan, "It's fine with me."

"Will Tyler be joining us?" Logan asked less enthusiastically.

"I'm not sure, he might be working." She smiled mischievously at him, "But if he comes, you can give him your protective big brother spiel. I'd better let the two of you get back to whatever I interrupted. It was so nice to meet you Veronica." She quickly reached out to hug her once more. Veronica was caught off guard again, but hugged her a little less awkwardly this time.

"I'll text you in the morning and we can work out the details." She gave Logan another hug as well, and then she turned and headed back up the sidewalk.

Logan reached out and grabbed Veronica around the waist, pulling her body against his. He grinned down blissfully at her and raised his eyebrows as he spoke. "Girlfriend, huh?"

She shrugged and smiled demurely up at him. "Only if you want me to be." She bit her bottom lip a bit nervously.

He sighed and kissed her deeply. "Of course I want you to be," he whispered breathlessly as he rested his forehead on hers. He kissed her one more time, then took her hand and headed into the restaurant to eat.

After the waitress took their order, Veronica gave him a gentle look. "I take it Tyler's not a very nice guy?" The solemn expression from earlier crossed Logan's face as he shook his head.

He sighed deeply then started to talk in a low voice. "I should probably fess up in case he does come tomorrow and it comes up." He had a slightly guilty look in his eyes. "Vanessa started dating him when Alexis and I were still together. One night she showed up at our house with a split lip and badly bruised cheek." He cringed thinking back to that night. "You can imagine that didn't go over well with me." He paused for a moment and sighed. "I paid Tyler a little visit the next day and after I landed a couple of punches, I told him if he ever laid a hand on her again, he wouldn't get off so easy." He exhaled a deep breath and looked apologetically at her. "Not exactly a great example of grown up stable Logan, but that was quite a few years ago."

She looked at him sympathetically. "While violence is never the best answer, I can understand how you'd want to protect her. She certainly seems to be really sweet and I can tell you really care about her."

He nodded and gave her a grim smile. "I'd really hoped he was out of her life for good, but apparently that doesn't seem to be the case." He sighed sadly, "And now with a baby in the picture…" his face took on a pained expression.

She reached out and squeezed his hand. "If she means that much to you, just be sure you keep in touch with her and be there for them. I know you'd never let anything happen to her or her baby if you're part of their lives. If they stay in Catalina, we can make trips over to check in on them too." He smiled lovingly back at her gesture, bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing it gently.

"Thank you," he whispered and gave her a tender look. "That means so much to me that you'd say that."

They enjoyed the rest of the meal with lighter conversation and soon were headed back to the yacht. They strolled back to the docks holding hands with the moon bright in the sky over the water. It was a pleasant evening, but there was a slight breeze off the water, so Logan wrapped his arm around her shoulders to help keep her warm when he felt her shiver a bit. There was a small ice cream shop near the dock, and they stopped to get cones and then walked back down to the yacht. Veronica held his cone while he worked on the ropes, stealing a few licks from his cone when he wasn't watching. He caught her one time and gave her a suspicious look and a smirk. Once they were untied, Logan sailed the yacht back out farther into the bay and tied onto one of the floats for overnight mooring.

A short while later, they were laying together on one of the lounges on the deck looking up at the stars. It was getting a little chillier, so Logan had grabbed a blanket from below deck to wrap them up with. He'd also brought up a bottle of champagne and was having a glass of it with her too. They had a beautiful view of the island with lots of sparkling lights reflecting off the water. She was resting up against his chest, facing up at the sky and out toward the island and the water.

Logan was nuzzling his nose along her neck and into her hair placing soft kisses along the way. He spent some time running his fingers through her curls and twirling her hair around his fingers. His hands gradually moved lower below the blanket, enjoying the curves of her body as he ran his hands over her. She was still wearing her dress, so he slowly worked up the bottom of it gradually until it was around her waist under the blanket. She started quietly moaning as his hands ran up and down her bare thighs. "I want to make love to you under the stars again," he whispered in a deep lust filled tone into her ear. He ran his tongue along the edge of her ear to further entice her.

She looked around a bit nervously, given there were other boats in the bay too, though none were extremely close to theirs. She slowly turned so she could look intently at him, then smiled and nodded. "Try to be a little discreet," she leaned up and whispered into his ear, "I don't think it would look good for the Mayor to be caught in a compromising picture by someone." She ran her fingers down his chest and then back up under his shirt, feeling the warmth of his skin against her slightly cold fingers.

He took a deep breath and then kissed her passionately. He easily unzipped her dress and was able to pull it over her head and out from under the blanket without any trouble. He ran his hands under the blanket and moaned as he felt the lacy thong she was wearing. He slowly ran his hands up and down her thighs and up her back. He ducked his head under the blanket and kissed her breasts as he undid her bra and tossed that on the deck as well. He pulled his shirt off and was able to quickly wiggle out of his pants and boxers. He rolled them over so he could be on top and kept them mostly covered with the blanket. The sparkling lights from the island and the slow rocking of the waves made it even more sensuous than at the beach house.

He looked at her with so much love as he kissed her and enjoyed the intimacy of being together with her there on the boat. "You have no idea how amazing it is to be with you Veronica," he breathlessly moaned against her skin as he placed kisses along her neck.

She looked lovingly up at him, "Logan you are the amazing one. You know exactly how to make me feel so loved and special. I'm so lucky to have you back in my life again." She pulled his face to hers and kissed him deeply as she shifted her hips to draw him closer to her.

When they were finished, they laid together naked under the blanket for quite some time listening to the waves splash against the boat and gazing up at the stars. Veronica thought of something she wanted to do and gave him a provocative smile. "Ready for round two yet?" she asked seductively. His eyes grew dark with lust again as he answered her question with a deep kiss. She reached down and grabbed his shirt, slipping into it discreetly and then climbed out from under the blanket and headed below deck giving him a seductive look over her shoulder as she walked off.

He sat there puzzled for a minute, unsure if she was coming back or if he was suppose to follow her. After a few minutes, he stood up with the blanket around his waist and quickly gathered up the scattered items of clothing and headed back below deck where she had gone. The door to the master suite was closed, and so he dropped the clothes on one of the seats and turned off lights as he made his way to the closed door.

When he opened the door to the bedroom, she had turned down the lights to a dim setting and was waiting for him on the bed in the sexy lingerie they had bought earlier in the week. "What took you so long?" She asked in a sultry voice. She was propped up against the headboard with pillows behind her, stretched out on the bed waiting for him.

Logan took a deep breath and his eyes grew even darker from the low lighting and the wave of emotion that spread over him. He dropped the blanket he was still holding around his waist and Veronica's smile grew even more lascivious as his expression became predatory and he moved toward her.

"You look amazing." He said in a low breathless growl as he crawled onto the bed and ran his hands slowly up her legs. Once he was close enough, he pressed his lips to hers and kissed her passionately. He then grabbed her and rolled her so she was straddling the top of him and he could gaze up at her and admire how sexy she looked in the lingerie they'd picked out. He laid their for a few minutes just taking her in, and then started slowly running his hands over her body and the lacy fabric.

She quickly grew impatient with his slow pace though and gave him a mischievous smile before she reached down and started to stroke him firmly and rocked against him. His restrained admiration was quickly overcome by desire as she knew exactly how to excite him and make him lose control. He moaned and arched toward her, before he found himself rolling her over and giving in to her demands for more action and less appreciation, though between his moans he was still able to tell her just how amazing she looked.

They eventually started to fall asleep in each others arms, enjoying the slow rocking of the boat on the waves and the soft sounds of the water splashing against the side of the boat. Before Veronica dozed off to sleep, she whispered to him, "I really love being here with you." He smiled softly as he heard her words. Not exactly 'I love you', but for Veronica that was as close as he'd heard her say before. He held her tightly and whispered "I love you Veronica," and then closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep.


	25. Chapter 25 - Relaxation

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 25 - Relaxation

As the early morning light flooded through the windows of the yacht, Logan stirred from his sleep. He was spooned up against Veronica and could feel the tickle from strands of her hair that had fallen against his cheek. He inhaled happily and tightened his embrace around her slightly, burying his face farther into her hair. He would never get tired of waking up with her in his arms, and at this moment he really didn't want her to go back to Massachusetts even if it might be the right thing for her to do for her career. He closed his eyes and listened to her breathing peacefully as she slept. He could feel her heartbeat under his hand that was wrapped across her chest. He nuzzled his face closer to her shoulders and placed some light kisses at the base of her neck.

The light kisses woke her up and a satisfied smile crossed across her lips. She pressed her body closer to him and reached an arm back to run her fingers up his naked thigh. "Good morning Captain," she said in a sleepy sultry voice. His light kisses became deeper as he worked his way from the base of her neck, around to below her ear and then down to her shoulder. She stayed still for a few moments, enjoying the feel of his mouth on her skin, before she rolled over, still in his embrace, but facing him instead. He saw the blissful smile on her face, and pressed his lips to hers.

As he started to pull his mouth away, she moved after him and lightly bit on his lower lip before kissing him deeply again. "I wasn't done," she teased as their lips parted for a second time. His blissful expression matched hers, and he rested his forehead against hers while he gently rubbed his nose against hers.

"Whatever the lady desires, the lady can have." He said in a sensuous voice, placing another soft kiss on her lips.

Her expression became a bit more mischievous. "Hmmm, I can't decide between breakfast or another round in bed with you then."

"I vote for the latter first," he said in a low growl as he moved his lips toward hers again and kissed her passionately. They were quickly consumed by their heated desire for one another and quickly escalated beyond just kissing.

"I want to wake up that way every morning," Veronica purred breathlessly in his ear much later as she lay beside him. He was lying on his back next to her catching his breath, and a euphoric smile spread across his face as he tilted to the side to kiss her temple, and run his hand along her naked body.

"I'm more than happy to make that wish come true, you know?" He said softly as he nuzzled his nose into her hair. She smiled shyly back at him and gave him a gentle kiss. He could tell from her expression that she knew he meant it, but there still seemed to be some hesitance to her fully committing to something permanent. He ran his fingers across her cheek and gave her a loving look that was full of compassion. He wasn't going to push her for more than she'd already given him.

"So breakfast now?" He asked as he smiled happily at her. "I want to make sure my girlfriend is completely satisfied in every way possible." He gave her a suggestive wink and kissed her lightly on the lips again.

She smiled as he called her his girlfriend. She was still worried about what would happen if she decided to go back to Massachusetts though. She'd blurted out girlfriend the day before because she was feeling threatened by yet another woman he seemed to be close to, but after she said it, she was glad she had. She really did want to be his girlfriend again and didn't want him to doubt that.

"Mmmm… you really are the best you know?" She said taking a deep breath as his lips moved away from hers.

"I know," he said with a slightly cocky tone, and she laughed and poked him softly in the ribs.

"So what are we doing today, besides having lunch with Vanessa?" She asked as she gazed into his eyes, running her palm across his chest.

His expression became a bit secretive and he grabbed her hand and gave it a quick kiss, then placed it back on his chest over his heart with his hand resting on top of it. "Would you rather be surprised or do you really want to know?"

She thought about it for a moment, and then decided she'd had enough surprises in the last week, and said that she wanted to know.

He laughed at her and replied, "I didn't say I was actually going to tell you. You'll have to wait and see."

She shook her head and narrowed her eyes at him. She swiftly climbed on top of him, and rested her hands on his sides where she knew he was extremely ticklish and applied a little pressure with her fingers, causing him to squirm slightly. "I have ways of making you talk, mister." She said with a playful glint in her eyes.

He laughed at her and then grabbed her wrists, pulling them up above his head and causing her to fall onto his chest. He quickly rolled them over so she was pinned beneath him with her hands stretched above her head. "Not so fierce now, are you Bobcat?" He leaned into kiss her again, and was met with a playful bite on his lower lip. She smirked at him as he pulled away, although he retaliated with his own nipping along her shoulder.

"Okay, I give up," she said in a playful defeated tone, "at least until you feed me and I'm revitalized again." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and hopped off the bed. He reached out his hand for her and pulled her up, leading the way to the shower.

After they ate breakfast, he sailed the boat back to the visitor mooring area. He still hadn't told her what they were doing, but said the casual dress she had picked out to wear would be fine. This time they took a taxi and he handed the driver a slip of paper with the address, giving her a sly smile since she still didn't have any idea where they were going. She shook her head at him and rolled her eyes at his antics. Soon they were pulling up in front of the very luxurious looking Island Spa Catalina, and Veronica gave him a sly grin as she realized their destination.

He'd arranged for a couples massage in a cabana near the ocean. The view and facilities were just perfect, and after an hour, Veronica couldn't remember a time she felt more relaxed and happy. Logan gazed lovingly at her from his massage table, pleased that she seemed to be enjoying it. After their massages, they sat in the cabana for a while in big fluffy white robes, watching the waves hit the rocks, snuggled together on a giant lounge chair. The staff had brought them a tray with fresh fruit and mimosas, and they were enjoying the drinks as they blissfully relaxed together.

"You know you're going to regret spoiling me like this when I expect it all the time." She said as she flashed him a devious smile.

He squeezed her tightly, and replied, "I'd gladly spoil you like this every day if you'd let me." He placed a loving kiss on her lips and ran his hand through her hair.

"You're also making it pretty impossible for me to want to go back to Massachusetts, you know?" She gave him a sly look as she smiled at him.

"That may have been part of my master plan." He kissed her softly again. "But I'm pretty sure I can spoil you like this on either side of the country, so you wouldn't need to let that influence your decision. But there are lots of other reasons to stay out here, like your dad and your friends too."

She ran her hand over his cheek and tipped her head up to capture his lips in another kiss. "You're a pretty good salesman."

He gave her a playful wink as he replied. "Always good to have another career option to fall back on when this Mayor gig comes to an end."

She smiled playfully, "Which is that, salesman, or my boyfriend who's only job is to spoil me and cater to my every whim?"

"You have to ask?" He jokingly asked as he pressed another kiss to her lips.

After spending a couple hours at the spa, they left to go meet Vanessa for lunch. Veronica noticed he was a little tense as they arrived at the restaurant. So much for a relaxing massage beforehand, she thought to herself as they climbed out of the taxi and headed into the restaurant. Vanessa was already seated at a table with an ocean view and waved them over. Veronica noticed he relaxed when he saw it was only her and that Tyler wasn't with her.

Vanessa stood as they approached the table and gave them both a hug before they sat back down. Veronica was quickly noticing how different Vanessa was from Alexis. She had such a cheerful and friendly demeanor it was hard to believe they were actually sisters.

Logan gave her a questioning glance, "no Tyler today?"

She smiled mischievously at him, "He had to work…. and he seems to still be afraid of you."

"Good." Logan replied with a smug grin on his face.

Vanessa shook her head at him and took a drink of the lemonade that she'd already ordered. A waitress stopped by a moment later to get drinks for Logan and Veronica and to see if they wanted any appetizers before they ordered lunch. They decided to split an order of deep fried mozzarella and the waitress left to get their order started.

"I'm so thrilled that I ran into both of you yesterday." Vanessa said as she beamed at them. "I've started to get a little lonely here since most of my friends are all back in L.A."

"Maybe you should go back to L.A. for a while and see some of them," Logan said, clearly with an ulterior motive in mind.

She caught on immediately and rolled her eyes at him. "Stop worrying so much Logan, Tyler really is doing much better. You haven't seen him in years. He's actually gone to rehab now and he's doing really well."

Logan gave her a skeptical look. "So what's he doing for work these days?"

"He's still working with some of the charter boat companies. He's been thinking of getting his own boat, but for now there are several boats that he enjoys working on and it gives him more flexibility. He's also still in a band and they play quite a few gigs at some of the bars and resorts around the island."

Logan didn't look terribly convinced that he was completely on the straight and narrow now. "You know I'm just worried about you kiddo," he replied when she gave him a questioning look.

She nodded and smiled, "I know. I've actually missed your over protective big brother lectures you know." She paused for a moment, "speaking of pseudo siblings, how's Heather these days?" She turned to Veronica and confided, "I actually like my pseudo siblings better than my actual sister." Veronica smiled in understanding.

Logan shook his head slightly before replying. "Heather's doing really well. She started at Hearst this year and has been keeping out of trouble and focusing on her school work."

Vanessa laughed, "Or at least that's what she's been telling you. Like she'd admit it if she wasn't. I sure miss her. Tell her I said hi when you talk to her again. Hey, maybe you can bring her out to the island some weekend soon and we can all hang out together. You too of course, Veronica," then she lowered her voice, "but not Lexi." She gave Logan a little wink, "just the fun kids."

Veronica smiled knowingly at Vanessa. "So when are you due?" Veronica asked trying to participate in the conversation too.

"Around Valentines day," Vanessa answered, then she laughed again. "Maybe we'll name him Cupid Calloway-Christensen if he's born that day."

Logan shook his head and smiled. "If you're going to give him that horribly long hyphenated last name, you'd better give him a nice simple first name, like Sam or Ed. Do you know for sure that it's a boy?"

She looked down at her drink for a moment and Veronica thought she saw a sad look cross her face before she looked up again with the cheery smile back in place. "Yes, it's a boy." She paused for a moment, "Actually I've already decided to name him Jackson." The cheery smile looked a bit forced as she said it, and Veronica noticed a quick flash of sadness pass across Logan's face too.

Logan reached across the table and squeezed Vanessa's hand. "I'm sure your parents will like that."

Vanessa's smile faltered again, and a few tears formed in her eyes and she looked up at the ceiling trying to force them back. Logan gave Veronica an apologetic look, then slipped around the table to sit next to Vanessa and put his arm around her.

"Hey it's okay, Nessa," He said softly as she leaned against him.

"I'm sorry, it's these crazy pregnancy hormones you know, one minute happy, the next minute sad, and the next minute a raging lunatic." She wiped at the tears on her face. She turned to look at Logan, who was looking at her with concern in his eyes. She tried to smile again, "Could you imagine if Lexi ever got pregnant, those would be some scary mood swings for sure!" Veronica noticed Logan's expression changed momentarily from being concerned about Vanessa to a brief flash of sadness and then back to concern again.

Vanessa's smile was short lived and she was fighting her tears again. "I've just been really missing him lately you know," she said in a weak voice as she tried to contain her tears. "It's probably just all these hormones and then when I was thinking of a name when I found out it was a boy."

Logan gently rubbed her shoulder. "Maybe you should call Lexi and go and visit her for a few days," he said softly.

Vanessa shook her head and took a big breath of air, trying to regain her composure. She looked sadly at Veronica, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to fall apart at lunch, you probably think I'm just a mess."

Veronica wasn't sure what the full story was, but she could tell enough to know that whoever Jackson was he'd meant a lot to her. "You don't need to apologize, it's fine." Veronica gave her a compassionate smile, and reached over and squeezed her hand for a moment too.

Vanessa looked sadly back at Logan again. "Lexi still blames me you know, and that's why I don't want to see her. She'll just blame me for screwing up something else since I accidentally got pregnant. I'll call mom in a couple weeks, but I don't want to see Lexi."

Logan shook his head, "Hey, Lexi doesn't blame you. It wasn't your fault. I know she can be difficult, but she's still your sister and she loves you."

Vanessa sobbed slightly, "But if he hadn't been coming to see me, he would still be alive."

Logan squeezed her a little tighter and she rested her head against his chest. "You know Jackson would never want you to blame yourself either. He loved you both, Nessa, and if he knew his sisters barely talk to each other because of him, it would break his heart. Lexi doesn't blame you sweetie, you have to know that. Nobody blames you. I'll go with you to talk to her if you want."

She nodded her head against his chest and wiped at her eyes. She sat up and forced a smile back on her face.

"Did you two do something fun this morning?" She turned to look at Veronica with a sincere look on her face and an obvious desire to change the conversation.

Veronica smiled softly and told her all about the massage and spending time at the spa. The change in topic seemed to help Vanessa recover her composure again.

The waitress had stopped by again to take their lunch orders and deliver their drinks and appetizer. Vanessa told them about the two months that she was in Vienna before coming back to Catalina while they waited for their lunches to arrive. Logan had shifted back to Veronica's side when the waitress brought their drinks and they were holding hands under the table and occasionally giving each other adoring looks.

After their lunch had arrived, Vanessa asked Veronica about Massachusetts. "You work in the DA's office there right? Logan had mentioned that before I think."

Veronica nodded and took a drink of her Iced Tea.

"Pete Bauer, right?" Vanessa asked before she took a bite of the salad she'd ordered.

Veronica was a little surprised that Vanessa knew the DA's name, but nodded in reply.

Vanessa smiled, "My Uncle's a lawyer too. He works for some big law firm in New York. He went to law school with Pete. I think I actually met him years ago at an anniversary party for my Aunt and Uncle. He seemed like a really nice guy from what I remember."

Veronica smiled politely, but Logan caught a bit of a surprised look pass over her face. Vanessa however was just trying to be friendly and connect with Veronica and didn't notice anything. "Do you like working there?" she asked with genuine interest.

Veronica relaxed a bit and started sharing some of the things she liked about working there, as well as a few things she wished were different. Vanessa listened intently to Veronica and smiled politely when she was finished. Then Vanessa smiled mischievously at Logan, "So is he trying to convince you to come back out here?"

Veronica smiled and nodded. "He's made several convincing arguments." Logan leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips.

"Well I'd love it if you were here with him," She said with genuine sincerity in her tone. "I can tell you make him really happy."

Veronica blushed a bit and smiled bashfully at Logan. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on the top of the head. "That's what I've been telling her too," he said lovingly. "But it's not always that easy when you're trying to build a career like Veronica is. She's going to talk with the Neptune DA though and I'm hoping she might decide to come out and work for him."

Vanessa smiled warmly at the two of them. As they finished their lunches, they chatted about various topics including some of the crazy pregnancy cravings she'd been having. When they said their goodbyes outside the restaurant, Vanessa promised she'd call her mom soon and let her know about the baby and that she was in Catalina. Logan said he'd check in with her again soon to be sure everything was going well. She gave Veronica a big hug and thanked her for being so kind and understanding of her crazy life.

"I hope you both come back and visit again soon now that you know I'm here." She said before she gave Logan a hug good bye and headed down the sidewalk to where she'd parked her car.

"Do you want to walk around the bay a little bit, or I could get a taxi to take us back to the boat, thought it's not really too far from here?" Logan asked as he watched Vanessa turn the corner to the parking lot.

Veronica gave him a sweet smile and took his hand with hers. "Walking sounds nice." They headed down the sidewalk back toward where the boat was moored.

"Thanks for being understanding about Vanessa." Logan gave her a loving smile as they walked together.

She nodded and gave him a reassuring look. "Did you know Jackson too?" She asked curiously then hesitated, "I'm sorry, if you don't to talk about it, that's fine too."

He removed his hand from hers, wrapping it around her waist instead, and pulled her closer as they walked. "It's fine. Yes, I knew Jackson. He was two years older than Alexis. He didn't die until about half way through our senior year at Hearst." He sighed sadly, "He was driving up to visit Vanessa at Stanford, when a drunk driver crossed the divider and hit his car head on. Vanessa was just a freshman when it happened." Veronica felt his body tremble slightly before he continued. "She of course took it really hard and dropped out of school after it happened. Her parents had wanted her to go back to college, though they were understanding about giving her some time to deal with it when it happened. She eventually did go back to Stanford, but it took quite a while. She was supposed to be going to school in Vienna to work on a master's degree but obviously that didn't happen." He sighed and looked sadly out toward the water.

"I thought things had gotten better with her and Alexis, but apparently they haven't. Vanessa's such a sweet girl, and Alexis can be so difficult that Vanessa still gets intimidated by her and then just gives up."

Veronica squeezed him a little tighter, "I'm really sorry Logan." He nodded and kissed the top of her head softly as they continued to walk.

They walked a few minutes in silence glancing out at all the boats in the bay and watching other people walking and biking by.

"That's sort of random that Vanessa's family knows my boss." Veronica finally said.

Logan let out a small huff of air. "Yeah, sorry, I probably should have mentioned it, though it seemed like a strange topic to just work into a conversation. Unless of course you're Vanessa."

"So you knew?" She asked with a thoughtful look on her face.

He sighed before he spoke, "I found out when I'd mentioned to Alexis and Vanessa that you got a job at the Cape Cod DA's office. They told me then that their Uncle knew the DA there." He paused to gauge her reaction. He wasn't sure what to expect her to do.

She didn't say anything for a few minutes as they kept walking. He waited to give her some time to process. "Did you know their Uncle very well?"

"I met him once. It was before Jackson died. The four of us all went to New York once and we had dinner with him and his wife, but that was the only time I'd ever talked to him." He thought for a moment. "And of course that was before you were even in Law School."

She nodded and looked out at the boats again. They walked another block in silence. He was starting to worry a bit about what she was thinking, but didn't want to get into anything out in public, so stayed silent as well. They were nearing a little seating area that jutted out over the water and she angled toward it. She took a seat on a bench that looked out over the water and he sat next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him resting her head lightly on his shoulder, looking out at the boats.

"Any other strange coincidences that you want to mention before they pop up unexpectedly?" She asked finally, turning to look at him with a curious expression on her face.

He looked up at the sky watching a few fluffy clouds float by and took a deep breath. He turned back to look at her again and smiled, "Nothing comes to mind, but a lot of things have happened in 8 years, so I really hope you won't hold it against me if something I've forgotten pops up later." She looked at him a little suspiciously. "I promise if I think of something I'll tell you as soon as I do." He smiled lovingly at her and brushed some strands of hair out of her face.

She sighed and her expression softened. She leaned closer and pressed her lips to his. "Sorry, old habits." She nuzzled her nose against his and gently kissed his lips again.

He rested his hand on the side of her head and rested his forehead against hers. "Total honesty, remember? I really should have figured out how to mention that. I'm sorry."

She shook her head and kissed him again. "You don't have to apologize about it. It's fine." She gave him a small smile then gazed back out at the bay again. She wanted to ask about the quick look she'd caught when Vanessa mentioned Alexis getting pregnant, but wasn't sure the best way or how that was going to go. She sensed there was certainly something there with the way Logan's expression had changed though. She hoped her approach would be indirect enough not to make him defensive. She figured if they were engaged though, they may have discussed having kids at least.

"Did you and Alexis talk about having kids when you were engaged?" She asked with as neutral an expression as she could, though she figured he would read more into it than the simple question she had asked given his reaction at the restaurant.

He took a deep breath and looked down at his lap for a moment, making it difficult for Veronica to see his expression. After he exhaled the breath, he shrugged, still looking down, "Sort of. We had one of those possibly-pregnant scares that catch you totally off guard when we were just starting our senior year at Hearst." She noticed his voice was a little shaky and he seemed to swallow a lump in his throat. He was still looking down at his lap and not making eye contact with her. "It turned out to just be a false alarm, but before we knew that, we did talk about it." He sighed again and shifted his gaze out to the bay, "I was surprised at myself about how once the initial shock wore off, I was actually a little excited about the thought of being a dad. I never expected that, given the messed up childhood I had. And then of course I was disappointed when it turned out she wasn't. Alexis was not happy about it at all and really didn't want to have kids, and she wasn't sure if she ever wanted to. At first it bothered me, but it hadn't been something I'd initially thought I'd want either, so I tried not to dwell on it."

Logan finally turned to look at her again with a troubled expression on his face, "Look, we don't need to have this conversation here do we?"

She should have known better than to bring it up now, and nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. "So what else do you have planned for our day?"

He reached out his free hand and took her hand that was resting on her leg, gently squeezing it, and gave her a grateful look for dropping the conversation for now. "I was thinking we could take the yacht around the island and find a secluded cove to anchor in and just relax on the boat. It's warming up quite a bit, so we could do some swimming too. We can also talk more then if you want." She nodded slightly, knowing what he meant. He paused another moment before he continued, "And then we can either head back to Neptune tonight, or stay the night on the boat and sail back in the morning." He was watching her to see what she thought of the idea. "I don't have any early meetings, so there's no rush for me to get back early, and Roger said anytime after lunch that you wanted to stop by would be good for him, if that works for you."

Her smile turned a bit seductive, "I'd love to spend the afternoon in a secluded cove with you." He sighed and gave her a quick kiss. "And spending one more night on the water would be wonderful too." He stood up and extended his hand for hers and they headed back to the yacht.


	26. Chapter 26 - Baring All

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 26 – Baring All

Logan was a bit quiet as they got back to the boat and untied to sail around the island. Veronica stood behind him as he was navigating out of the bay and wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned around to watch where they were going. He smiled gently at her, and reached around to pull her in front of him, kissing her softly on the top of her head as he did.

As he was sailing around the island looking for a nice private cove that wasn't already occupied by other boats, he couldn't help but regret that he'd mentioned his reaction to their pregnancy scare. He wasn't sure what Veronica's recent thoughts on having kids were, but he did notice her inclination to be sure they were using a condom had been back since seeing Vanessa the day before. They'd gotten a little lax on it after the first time they didn't use one on Tuesday night, but she seemed a bit more insistent the times they were together after seeing Vanessa. He could only imagine that the thought of getting pregnant was now in the forefront of her mind and not something she wanted to risk.

He couldn't help but remember back to a time in college when they had entered the elevator at the Grand to find they had the unfortunate luck to be joining a frazzled mother holding a crying baby and a younger son who had somehow pushed every single floor button before the mother could stop him. As the elevator stopped at every floor, the mother gave them an apologetic look and then said she was sorry as they got off on the fifth floor. Veronica had already had a bad day and wasn't happy at all that they had to endure stopping at every floor on the way to the penthouse. Logan stood by the controls and pushed the close button if no one was waiting, but it was still an excruciating ride to the top. He recalled her mumbling something about a space elevator, which he had no idea what that meant, as well as being happy she was never planning to have any kids.

He hadn't made the full connection and thought about the elevator ride, until she'd asked about him and Alexis this afternoon. Putting all the pieces together led to a pretty clear idea of how she likely may still feel about it. He was thankful to have a little time to think more about his next response to the topic before they discussed it again though he wasn't sure what he was going to say to negate his reaction earlier.

He finally found a nice cove that was unoccupied and sailed toward the back of it where they'd have more privacy. "Does this spot look good to you?" He asked before dropping the anchor and killing the motor. She nodded happily back.

"I was thinking of putting my swim shorts on, did you want to change into something else too?" He asked as he started heading back down below deck. She could tell he was still preoccupied by something, and figured it was likely the question she asked before they came back to the yacht. She nodded and he smiled, but headed below deck without waiting for her to walk with him.

She followed a few steps behind him and watched him carefully. He found his shorts in his bag, and gave her a quick kiss before walking into the bathroom to change. A puzzled expression crossed her face as she searched for her own bikini from her bag. She couldn't help but notice that he seemed to all of a sudden be a bit more modest than he had been the past few days, with actually going into the bathroom to change. He quickly returned from the bathroom and said he'd meet her up on the deck as he gave her another quick kiss and left the room. Veronica let out a slightly frustrated sigh as she changed into her bikini, then headed back up to the deck. He wasn't acting upset with her, but he was definitely a bit more distant than how he'd been before they'd left the boat this morning and she couldn't help but feel like he was trying to avoid another conversation with her.

Logan had grabbed some bottles of water and iced tea and set them in an ice bucket on deck. He smiled when he saw her come up on deck and let out a small whistle as he saw her in the bikini. "You look amazing," he said as he walked over to her and gave her a quick kiss. She smiled at him and took his hand and pulled him toward one of the lounge chairs. She pushed him gently into it, and then climbed on top of him so she was straddling his lap.

He was sitting upright so their bodies were close together. He smiled at her and gave her another quick kiss. She shook her head slightly, and gave him a questioning look. "Time to talk, okay?" she said softly as she ran her hands up and down his sides.

He sighed a little and leaned back in the chair looking up at the sky for a minute before looking back at her. "Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"Let's start with whatever has gotten you so quiet since we've been back from lunch." She carefully watched his expression which was fairly stoic at the moment. "I'm sorry I asked about you and Alexis and kids. I really didn't have any right to ask you that. I noticed your expression at lunch and my nosiness just got the better of me."

He shrugged and smiled a little sadly, "No, I just feel like I threw more at you than you probably really wanted to know, and you have enough on your mind right now that you didn't need me to add to it." He reached up and brushed some strands of hair behind her ear. "I know I probably had a reaction when Vanessa mentioned Alexis and being pregnant. She of course never knew that had happened." She gently reached down and placed her hand on the side of his head rubbing her thumb across his cheek and then around the edge of his ear. He tilted his head toward her palm and closed his eyes for a moment with a sigh.

She smiled tenderly at him. "Do you still feel the same way?" she asked gently. "That you'd really like to be a dad some day?"

He shrugged again and looked past her for a moment before looking back into her eyes. "I'd absolutely love to have kids with you some day Veronica if that's something you want too, but I'm also perfectly happy if that's not something you'd want to do." She looked affectionately at him. She knew he wasn't lying necessarily, but she also knew that a small part of him would likely regret if he never got to be a dad after the realization that it was something he actually wanted to be. She could see it in his eyes when he was talking to her even if he said it didn't really matter.

She took a deep breath. She wanted to be open with him, just like he was being open with her. "Dillon and I had talked about it." His expression became curious as he watched her intently. "He comes from a large family. He has a brother and two sisters, and having several kids was always something he had wanted to do. At first I was pretty opposed to the idea, given my less than stellar childhood with my mom, but then I started spending more time with his family. His brother has two kids and one of his sisters has three. I hadn't been around little kids much when I was growing up, other than those few nightmarish baby sitting jobs I took as part of that case in high school, but his nephews and nieces were pretty good kids. The youngest was born right after we had started dating and the oldest was seven, so there was a fairly broad range of ages. It was so amazing to be there right after his sister brought home the baby. She was so tiny, but so beautiful too." She sighed sadly, "I hadn't really thought about how much I'm going to miss them all until now."

Logan sat up straighter again and ran his hand down the side of her arms and gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry Veronica."

She shrugged and forced a smile back on her face. "Thanks." She leaned toward him and gave him a gentle kiss. "And you're right, that's not something I want to make any decisions about now, but I want you to know it's something that I would consider in the future depending on how things go with us, okay?"

She finally saw a genuine smile cross his face again and he took a deep breath then leaned forward and kissed her. "I'm happy to hear that," he whispered quietly as their lips parted.

She captured his lips for one more kiss, then sat up and smiled at him. "Anything else bothering you, or was that all?"

He sighed and ran his hand across her hair again. "Well, I'm still worried about Vanessa, of course, but I'm also worried about your case and what you plan to do tomorrow when we go back."

She cringed slightly, "As for Vanessa, I think you'll just have to keep checking in with her. And as for the case, I'd still like to get into Troy's apartment."

He furrowed his brow and let out a slightly frustrated sigh. "I'm not thrilled with that idea you know."

She nodded and looked at him as positively as she could. "How about I tell you what my idea is, and then you can point out all the flaws with my plan and help me fix it?"

He nodded and leaned back on the lounge chair again looking intently up at her, with a slightly less furrowed brow, but still not a happy expression.

"I'll check the tracker when we get back tomorrow morning, but I'm pretty much expecting the same pattern. Once he leaves for work tomorrow evening, we'll drive over to his apartment and you can park near the front, and listen in through the bug that I'll be planting in his apartment. We should have one at the office that you can sync up with your phone while I'm in the apartment, and then afterwards, I'll just pick up the signal remotely and record it on my laptop. I of course can't just break in, so I'm hoping if I go to the building superintendent's office with a good cover story, say I left my purse and keys accidentally behind after we had a fight, that they'll let me in to retrieve them. Hopefully the building super is either sympathetic, or really won't care and just do it, but I can be pretty convincing when I need to be." She gave him a little wink. "I promise if that doesn't work though, we'll think of something else, because you're right, I can't risk getting caught breaking in. If the super lets me in, then it's not exactly breaking and entering."

He was still watching her intently, and she could tell he wasn't thrilled, but he also wasn't arguing with her yet either.

"I'm hoping I can get the super to leave me alone there for a few minutes and I can snoop around a bit, otherwise, if not, I'll just have to leave the bug and get out. You'll be able to hear everything and will just be right out front of the apartment until I'm done."

He looked thoughtfully at her. "Do you still have your tazer?"

She nodded in reply. "It should be small enough that I can put it in a coat pocket. I won't be able to have a purse with me, since that's part of my cover to get let in, but I should be fine with it in my pocket."

"What if the super waits with you and realizes you don't have a purse or keys to retrieve?"

She bit her lip for a moment thinking, "I'll have a pair of keys in my pocket, and slip them out when the super isn't looking, and say Troy must have taken my purse with him. I think that will work"

He nodded and sighed, still watching her intently. "Can I come in with you after the super leaves, if they leave you alone in the apartment?"

She shook her head, "No I worry someone might see you and that could be more suspicious. You'll be able to hear me through the bug though."

He thought about it a little more before responding again, "Will you be able to hear me if I need to warn you about something?"

"Not through the bug, it's only a one way transmitter, but I could have my cell phone in my pocket too and you could call or text me. Just be sure the super isn't there because that may need to be part of my cover story."

"Can you leave the apartment door unlocked at least? That way if something goes wrong, I'll be able to easily get to you."

"Nothing will go wrong, Logan." She smiled and ran her hand up and down his chest. "But I can leave the door unlocked if the super does leave me alone in the apartment. But you have to promise you won't come in unless there really is some imminent threat of danger. If there's anything suspicious reported to Troy, he could find the bug and then he might be able to trace it back to us."

He nodded in understanding. "I'm not thrilled about this, but as long as I'll be able to get to you quickly, I guess it's the best we can do."

She smiled and leaned down to kiss him deeply. "Thanks for promising to have my back." He nodded and smiled grimly back at her. She thought for a moment then asked, "How well do you know Roger? Do you think if we get anything on tape that we could take it to him since we may not be able to go to Leo or anyone on his staff?"

Logan was thoughtful for a few minutes. "I've worked with him on various things since becoming the Mayor. I think he seems like a pretty stand-up guy, but then again, I thought Leo was too." He let out a frustrated breath. "Why don't we see what you find and then we can decide if it makes sense to take it to him. And you can see what you think after talking more with him tomorrow afternoon. I know a few guys on the San Diego Police force too, and while it may be out of their jurisdiction, they might be able to help us too. Of course whatever you record isn't going to be usable as evidence right? I guess it will help us point them in the direction to look though."

She nodded and smiled slyly, of course he'd have to be all logical about it. She was glad that he seemed to be supportive of her plan anyway though. He was still leaning back on the lounge chair and she was sitting upright on his lap. She lowered herself on him so she could kiss him, resting her arms across his chest.

"Do you have some lotion you can rub all over me so I won't get sunburned," She asked with a seductive gleam in her eye.

She was relieved to finally see a playful smile on his face again. He nodded and kissed her, then carefully rolled her off of him, and headed back below deck to get it.

When he returned above deck, she smiled lovingly at him, and he started rubbing the lotion all over her. "I'd better be sure to get it everywhere, you never know when your bikini might unexpectedly shift, or just fall off," he said playfully tugging a bit at the straps.

"Logan!" She protested and batted his hand away from the tie.

"Come on Veronica, we're the only ones in the cove, no one will see you." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her. She shook her head, but didn't protest as he ran his fingers completely under the fabric to spread the lotion everywhere.

Once he was done, she offered to put some on him, and he let her return the favor. When she stopped above the band of his shorts, he shot her a questioning glance. "You don't want me to get burned when I go skinny dipping do you?" She shook her head and laughed at him. "What? I'm serious." She gave him a questioning look and he raised his eyebrows at her and smiled.

"Fine," she said in a low sultry voice and put more lotion on her hands, then pushed them into his shorts, making sure she was adequately covering him everywhere. He moaned when she got to his front side. She pulled her hands out and smirked at him, then laid back down on the lounge chair, putting her sunglasses over her eyes. He sat there too watching her for a bit, and once he realized that all she was planning to do for the moment was relax in the sun he decided he at least wanted to jump in and swim.

"Well, I'm off to skinny dip now," he said in a playful tone. "Wanna come with?"

The corners of her lips turned up in a playful smile, but she shook her head and didn't move from the chair.

"Come on, it will be fun," he said as he stood up from the chair, and walked over to grab a few towels to place down by the ledge at the back of the boat that they could use to climb in and out of the water. He noticed she was watching him, as he carried the towels down to the ledge. He went back up one last time before jumping in to convince her to join him.

"Change your mind yet?" He asked with a seductive smile on his lips. She shook her head again. "Chicken," he playfully added as he stripped off his shorts and tossed them at her and then went and dove into the water.

She was a little surprised that he actually did take off his shorts. Even though there currently weren't any other boats in the cove, there was always the possibility that another one would come and anchor there too. She sat up and then wandered toward the back of the boat where the ledge was. She climbed down and sat on the ledge dangling her feet into the water kicking them lightly against the small waves. She gave him an appreciative smile as he noticed her there and started to swim back toward the boat.

"At least come in and swim with your suit on," he said as he swam closer to her. "The water feels really great." He dove under and swam to the boat, surfacing right by her feet. He pulled himself up part way out of the water, right between her knees, so he could give her a kiss. She glanced down at his firm abdominal muscles with a slight trail of hair leading farther down as he broke the surface of the water. Then he sank back down again and tugged playfully on her feet.

"Maybe another kiss would convince me," she said with a sly smile on her face. He swam back to the prior position, and lifted himself up again, as she raised an eyebrow and admired his chest and abs again.

"I think you're just toying with me now," he said after he kissed her and realized she was ogling him. He pushed off from the ledge and swam a bit farther out, stopping a ways out and treading water.

He smiled lasciviously at her and then arched back so he could float on his back in the water. He turned his head to watch her and caught a slight blush as she watched him floating naked out in front of her.

"It's awfully lonely out here all by myself," he called to her. Then he reached down and stroked himself a couple times, before, moving his hands back up toward his shoulders again to keep himself a float. He could see her skin get more flushed as she watched him.

He dove under the water again to swim back to the boat, but when he surfaced in the spot she'd been sitting, she was gone. He heard a small splash, and spun around in time to catch her swimming up behind him.

"You're a horrible tease," she whispered in his ear as she wrapped her arms around him. He reached back and grabbed a hold of the ledge to keep her from pulling them under. She bit at his ear and then started nibbling down his neck, sucking slightly on his skin. He reached under the water with his free hand to pull her closer, and his eyes grew wide as he realized she didn't have her bikini bottom's on any longer. He ran his hand over her bare skin as a salacious expression crossed his face.

She smiled seductively at him when she saw his expression, and untied her top as well and threw it up on the deck of the boat, where she'd thrown the bottoms when he was under the water. She pressed her body against his and he moaned softly as he felt her warm skin brush up against him in the cool water. She gave him a quick little kiss, and then playfully bit his bottom lip, as she pushed off from him and swam a ways from the boat.

"Now who's the tease," he called after her as she surfaced again about ten feet from the boat.

She smiled playfully and floated for a bit on her back, copying the position he'd taken earlier and watching him carefully across the water. His expression was filled with lust and his grin became voracious as he pushed off from the boat and swam toward her. She waited a bit too long before swimming off again and he was able to grab a hold of her and pulled her closer to him planting a passionate kiss on her lips before they both started to sink under the water. When they surfaced to catch their breath, she reached down and gently stroked him under the water, which was enough of a distraction that she was able to wiggle out of his grasp and swim off again. She heard a low growl from him as she dove under the water to put a little bit of distance between them.

She knew Logan was a much better swimmer than she was, given he'd spent so much time in the water surfing, so she didn't really expect to be able to out swim him, but was still having fun trying. He easily caught up to her and reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back toward his body again. He was able to keep them afloat a bit better this time since she was kicking too. He pulled her head toward his and captured her lips again as he flipped more to his back and pulled her on top of him. Still without any leverage, she was easily able to roll off of him and swim closer to the boat. He caught up with her near the boat and grabbed a hold of her again and pulled her up against his body, while keeping one hand on the ledge of the boat.

He spun them around so she was closer to the boat, facing him. She went back to her earlier position of placing her arms over his shoulders, and then wrapped her legs around his waist and smiled happily at him. He moved his free hand down her body, starting right below her arm and ending with it cupped under her thigh as she kissed him and arched into him. He had a better hold on her now, and she didn't actually try to swim off, but instead kept rubbing her body against his and deepened her kisses. She removed one hand from his shoulder and slid it down between them, so she could stroke him, which elicited a low groan from him. She smiled mischievously and then slid over him, causing him to groan even louder and grasp tightly at her hip with the hand that wasn't holding the ledge. She put her hand back on his shoulder to give her better leverage, and kissed him deeply as she moved with the waves against his body. She could feel him moan into her mouth and felt his muscles tighten as he did his best to pleasure her while keeping them from slipping under the water again.

He was getting carried away, when he froze and his eyes bolted open with a worried look, "I didn't grab..." he started to say, and she kissed him again, silencing what he was trying to say.

"It's okay," she moaned as her lips separated from his. She was moving faster now, and he went back to kissing along her neck and shoulder, as he enjoyed the feeling of her moving around him with the waves creating even more friction for them. He held on as long as he could, until he finally felt her muscles contract around him, and he let himself follow behind her. He took a deep breath and then kissed her passionately on the lips again. "That was absolutely amazing," he said breathlessly.

She could only nod in agreement as she was still trying to catch her breath and couldn't quite talk yet. She kissed him again and smiled lovingly at him. They floated there for a few more minutes and then he gestured toward the boat. "Want to go back on deck now?" She nodded and he glanced around one more time to be sure they were still the only boat in the cove, and then helped her climb up on the ledge by the stack of towels. She quickly grabbed one and wrapped it around herself as she stood on the ledge waiting for him. He climbed up beside her and wrapped the towel around his waist and leaned down and kissed her. "You really are so amazing, Veronica," he said with a look of complete adoration on his face.

She shook her head and smiled at him. "Only because you make me feel that way," she said in a soft voice and leaned up to kiss him once again. He took her hand and led her back up to the deck of the yacht. They went back to the large lounge chair she was sitting on before he'd jumped into the water, and he sat down pulling her down with him. They were still exhausted from their swim, so they lay their quietly for a while, just enjoying the warm rays of the sun and the sound of the waves splashing against the boat. Logan felt her drift off to sleep and he closed his eyes for a short nap too, holding her tightly with his chin resting gently on the top of her head.

Veronica woke up after a while and realized that Logan had fallen asleep too. She shifted slightly to get more comfortable, and her slight movement woke him up. The sun was getting fairly low in the sky since they'd been asleep for over an hour. He tightened his embrace around her and kissed her on the top of the head. "Can we just stay like this forever?" He asked as he ran his hand up and down her back. She sighed and nodded happily against his chest. She ran her hand across his abs, tracing his muscles with her fingers. He heard her stomach growl and laughed, "I guess your appetite objects to my suggestion." She poked him softly in the side.

"I take it that was my cue to get off my ass and make you dinner then?" He leaned toward her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips before slipping out from under her and standing up. He glanced around and saw they were still the only boat in the cove, so dropped his towel and slipped back into his shorts. She smiled coyly at him, and looked around to locate her bikini pieces. Once she located them, she headed down below deck still wrapped in the towel to change into something else. "Come on, where's my show?" He asked playfully as she left. She turned once she was below deck where he could still see her, dropping the towel with a sly smile, and then turned to head back to the suite.

He whistled after her, and then headed down to make their dinner. When she came back out, changed into shorts and a tank top, he was grilling up some chicken. She helped him cut up some vegetables for a salad, and found some French bread that the yacht club had also packed for them. They took the food back up to the top deck and sat at the table there eating their dinner and enjoying the sunset.

"Thanks for an absolutely perfect do-over date," she said warmly as she leaned over to give him a kiss. She could feel his smile against her mouth as her lips pressed against his. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as their heads rested together for a moment.

"You're more than welcome," He said softly as she sat back up. She stretched and yawned slightly drawing a curious look from him. "I thought dinner was supposed to revitalize you, not make you sleepy."

She gave him a coy smile and shrugged. "Some of us need their sleep to be ready for a potentially big important job interview tomorrow you know."

"Okay, if you've had enough satisfying for the day, I guess I can survive with just cuddling tonight." He gave her a mischievous wink.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, and started to pick up their dishes to take down to the kitchen. When they got below deck, he said he'd finish cleaning up if she wanted to go in and get ready for bed. She gave him a soft kiss and thanked him and then turned and headed into the bedroom.

He finished up cleaning and then turned off the lights, and closed the door to the outside deck and headed into the bedroom. The lights were off, but he managed to make it to the bathroom without bumping into anything. He brushed his teeth and changed into some sleep shorts, then went back out to the bed, carefully climbing in so he wouldn't wake her up if she was asleep.

She flicked one of the lights that were near the headboard on and smiled mischievously at him. "Just cuddling? Really?" she asked in a playful tone as she straddled him and pushed him down beneath her.

A dark lustful expression crossed his face as he realized she was in some lingerie that wasn't what they had picked out together. She smiled as his expression changed, "I snuck this one in when you weren't looking the other day. You like?"

It was even more revealing than the other one and it was easy for her to tell by his reaction to it that he liked it very much. As opposed to the prior night, when he started out with slow admiration, he flipped her over so she was underneath him, and took a much more aggressive approach this time. She moaned and writhed beneath him as he moved his mouth and hands all over her body and it quickly escalated to more sensuous activities. She was even more turned on by his aggressiveness and eagerly met his enthusiasm with her own. As usual she tried to flip them so she could be on top, but he over powered her and instead flipped her on her belly under him for a while. He eventually let her direct the position they took, but she certainly enjoyed letting him be in charge for most of it.

"I guess that's a yes," she finally moaned out breathlessly as he finally collapsed on top of her completely out of breath a while later. He nodded against her chest and laughed. He shifted slightly to be sure he wasn't crushing her but was so exhausted that he could barely move. She noticed a few minutes later he had fallen asleep with his arm wrapped around her and his head resting on her chest. She was able to reach the light to turn it off and ran her hand gently through his hair as she enjoyed the feel of his body curled up against hers. She couldn't help but think to herself that there was no way she wanted to go back to Massachusetts now. She hoped Roger really was serious about hiring her and would make her a decent offer. She laughed internally though thinking to herself that she was just kidding herself. She knew regardless of the offer, even if it was to make him coffee and do filing, that right at this minute she'd take anything so she could stay here with Logan. She sighed happily and closed her eyes and quickly drifted off to sleep.


	27. Chapter 27 - Accidental Outbursts

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 27 - Accidental Outbursts

Logan woke up early and started sailing back to Neptune, planning to let Veronica sleep in a bit later. The movement of the boat and soft sound of the engine woke her shortly after he'd started heading back. She got dressed and decided to make some eggs and toast and took it up to him on deck. He greeted her with a warm smile, and pulled her close for a passionate kiss. She took a seat next to him and sighed deeply as she looked off at the horizon. "Penny for your thoughts," He said with a sly smile as he finished his quick breakfast.

She shrugged, "I was just thinking how wonderful it was on Catalina and now we have to go back to the real world."

"Well the good news is Catalina is only a short boat ride away anytime you want to escape the real world with me." He leaned in toward her and she tilted her head up as their lips met in a loving kiss.

When they arrived at the docks, he suggested that she just drop him off at City Hall. He insisted that she borrow his car for the day, and then they could meet up later after she was done meeting with Roger and he was done with work. She gave him a lengthy kiss before he climbed out of the car and told her to stay out of trouble.

Back at Mars Investigations, she looked at the tracking information again on Troy. It was fairly similar to the other days, though she did notice another short visit to Dog Beach. She decided they should wait until around 9pm to head over to his apartment, since he seemed to be leaving around 8pm each night. She worked on a few other background checks for her dad's cases, and then went back to her dad's to change into something a bit more fitting for a lawyer before she went to meet with Roger.

The DA's office was located on the third floor of the City Hall building. Veronica stopped by Logan's office first to see if he was free. She thought she'd stop in just to say hi to Logan if he was available before she headed up to see Roger. Jenny was at her desk when she walked in and greeted Veronica with a warm smile. Veronica asked if Logan was available.

"Sorry, he's with someone right now, did you want to wait?" Jenny cheerfully replied.

"That's okay. I'm on my way up to the DAs office and I'll just check back when I'm done."

"I'll let him know you stopped by," Jenny said as Veronica turned and headed toward the elevator.

After her meeting with Roger she entered the elevator to head back downstairs. She was thinking about how well their conversation had gone when the doors opened on the second floor and she came face to face with a surprised looking Alexis.

"Logan's office is on the first floor," Alexis said as she entered the elevator. "Were you lost or ..." She trailed off without finishing.

Veronica had already narrowed her eyes and taken on a defensive stance. "Or what?" She asked with an angry tone.

Alexis gave her a fake smile, "Sorry, I'd hate to say something that might upset you and have you go crying to Logan again. I was actually surprised after hearing what a badass Logan and Dick had made you out to be when you were in high school that you were so upset after our talk the other day and went running to him about how mean I was to you. Although it makes more sense now as to why Logan would be interested in taking you back seeing as how he seems to have a soft spot for helpless women if his more recent failed relationships are any indication."

Veronica's anger was increasing by the second listening to Alexis and she finally snapped right at the same moment that the elevator door opened again. "You're such a bitch. No wonder your own sister doesn't want to talk to you."

Veronica immediately regretted saying it the moment it left her lips, especially as she looked in front of her and saw Logan standing there in front of the now open elevator door with a look of shock on his face.

Alexis looked at Veronica with confusion for a second then noticing Logan standing there. As she took in his expression, her look of confusion was replaced by anger. "What are you talking about?" She snapped at Veronica then stepped out of the elevator toward Logan. Veronica slowly stepped out as well and had a sincerely apologetic look on her face as Logan glanced at her.

Logan took a deep breath and focused his attention back on Alexis. "What is she talking about Logan?" Her tone matched the anger in her expression. He didn't respond and Alexis grew visibly more irritated. She raised an eyebrow and looked intently at him speaking louder, "No lies Logan, remember we promised each other that. What is she talking about?"

"Give me five minutes and I'll come and talk to you, okay?" Logan replied with a slightly unsteady tone.

"Logan!" She snapped at him, clearly not happy with his deflection.

He put his hand on her shoulder before he spoke again, "Five minutes, please Lexi."

She shot an angry glare at Veronica and then turned and walked toward her office.

"I'm so sorry Logan," Veronica said as he momentarily looked back at her. She could tell he was not happy at all and she really didn't blame him.

He let out a frustrated sigh. "I need to call Vanessa before I talk to her." He ran his hand through his hair. "I'll catch up with you later, okay. I need to figure out how to fix this." He was pulling his phone out and starting to flip through his contacts as he turned back toward his office.

"I really am sorry," she said again as she watched him walk away.

Logan walked briskly back to his office and closed the door. He knew Alexis would be coming to find him soon if he didn't make it to her office in 5 minutes.

"Hey Nessa," he said as Vanessa answered the call.

"Missing me already?" She teased back.

He let out a frustrated sigh that she could hear through the phone and her mood changed. "What's wrong?"

"Veronica accidentally mentioned you to Lexi and now she wants to know what's going on." Logan said in an apologetic voice.

"Oh." There was a moment of silence as neither spoke.

"I don't know what to do Nessa, you know Lexi and I promised not to lie to each other, but I also told you I wouldn't mention seeing you in Catalina either."

Vanessa sighed sadly. "I was hoping for more time, but I needed to do it at some point. Can you just mention as little as you have to and I'll call and talk to Mom. Maybe you can buy me a little time. I don't want them to find out from her. "

"I know. I'm so sorry Nessa." He said regrettably.

"I know Logan. I don't want you to have to lie to her for me either. Not telling isn't the same as lying though."

Logan sighed, "I'll keep that in mind, but you know she can usually tell when I'm not being completely honest with her." He paused for a minute, "and whatever happens, I'm always there for you Nessa."

"Thanks Logan," he heard her let out a little laugh, "you may regret that when I come knocking on your door with a screaming baby in my arms."

"Never Nessa. I mean it, anything you need, you let me know."

"Thanks Logan, bye."

"Bye kiddo."

Logan stood up and headed to the door. As expected, Alexis was already headed for his office. He looked at Jenny and said he was going to be gone for a little while and gestured to Alexis to walk outside with him. He wasn't sure how things would go with her and he really didn't want to fuel more rumors in their building. There was a small park next to City Hall and Logan headed there with Alexis walking beside him. He took a seat on a bench and she stood in front of him with her arms crossed in front of her.

She glared down at him. "So I can think of a few explanations for what she said." Alexis watched his expression carefully. "The first is you and Blondie..."

He interrupted her with a firm "Lexi".

"Sorry… Veronica," she rephrased it with a bit of contempt still in her tone, "flew to Vienna yesterday while you were playing hooky from work." He shook his head at her with a bit of frustration at her attitude.

"Second is that you told her I'm such a bitch that Vanessa hates me." He sighed and gave her a firm look. "Third is that Vanessa isn't in Vienna."

He exhaled deeply then spoke. "She's in Catalina with Tyler."

He watched Alexis' angry expression quickly change to concern. "Well now I wish it was the second one," she said sadly and sat next to him on the bench taking a long shuddering breath and resting her head in her hands for a moment.

"What on earth is she thinking?" She turned to look at him and she could tell that wasn't all there was. "Is she okay? Did he beat her up again?"

Logan shook his head. "She said he's better and that he's gone to rehab."

"Then what is it? And don't say that's all, because when it comes to her, your poker face sucks."

Logan took a deep breath then looked at her with concern, "She's pregnant."

Alexis shook her head and looked down at the ground. "Well that's just fabulous."

Logan put his hand on her shoulder so she'd turn back to him. "She really needs you to be there for her Lexi. She even cried during lunch about Jackson again. You know how she was before your parents sent her to therapy and now with all this…"

Alexis gave him a doubtful look before he continued. "She needs her sister who loves her no matter what. She still thinks you blame her. I thought things were better between the

two of you." She gave him a sad look tinged with guilt.

He looked intently at her, "Lexi, please let whatever anger you might have toward her go. It wasn't her fault and she really needs you, especially since I don't think we can trust Tyler. You know Jackson would be so disappointed in you if you weren't there to support her through all of this."

Alexis sighed and nodded. "Has she told Mom and Dad yet?"

"She was going to try to call your Mom today, so please don't say anything to them until she has a chance to, okay."

Alexis' attitude had definitely softened, and she nodded in reply. "Do you think she's safe there with Tyler?"

He shrugged and looked down at his hands. "I didn't see him so I could only go off what she told me." He shook his head, "I'm not sure if she'd admit it though either. I sort of know how that goes." He let out a distressed sigh.

Alexis reached over and squeezed his hand that was resting on his lap and gave him a sympathetic look. They sat there for a few minutes in silence.

He took a deep breath and placed his other hand over hers and looked intently at her, his expression had changed from concerned to slightly irritated. "What did you say to Veronica in the elevator, Lexi?"

She pulled her hand back and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well I certainly didn't call her a bitch." She exhaled and glared back at him.

He gave her a warning look and then sighed, "I really want her to come back to Neptune, Lexi, and I want you to accept that, okay? If she comes back, she'll probably be working for Roger and I don't want there to be a fight every time you two run into each other in the building."

He searched her face trying to figure out what she was thinking. "I've been thinking, and I realize I'm to blame too." She gave him a questioning look as he continued. "I should have just kept things platonic with you after we broke up. I know I told you that we'd never get back together, but I can't help but think some of your behavior could be because you didn't believe me and thought maybe we would." He paused and studied her face for a moment. "I'm sorry Lexi, I do love you, but not the same way that I love her. And the more time that I've spent with her I really do believe that she loves me the same way. So you and I need to figure out how to make this work. I'm not going to let her go this time and I'd hate to lose someone I've been friends with for the last seven years because of that." His expression became grim, "I need you to be the good person I know you are deep down, not the jealous bitter ex-girlfriend you've been acting like lately. I need the Lexi who supports me even when she may not agree with me. Can you please do that for me?"

She sighed and nodded. He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Thank you, Lexi."

She nudged him softly with her shoulder. "And I'm not bitter and jealous, just protective." He rolled his eyes and laughed at her while he shook his head.

Logan's phone chimed and he expected it to be Veronica, but it was Jenny instead letting him know his next appointment was there and asking if he would be back soon. He replied that he'd be there in a minute and stood up and extended his hand to help Alexis up too.

She smiled softly at him and shook her head. "I'm going to hang out a bit longer and try to give Vanessa a call. I promise I'll be nice and supportive."

He smiled gratefully at her and headed back to his office. Logan had a couple of back to back meetings before he was finally free for the day. When his last appointment left, Jenny came into his office to drop off some mail and handed him his car keys. "I didn't get a chance to give these to you yet, but Veronica left them for you."

He looked a bit puzzled and took the keys. "Did she say anything when she left them?"

She shook her head. "She just asked if I could give them to you when you came back from talking to Alexis at the park."

He knew Jenny didn't know where he went to talk to Alexis, so that meant Veronica had seen them there. Since he was done with his meetings he decided to go and talk to her in person to be sure she wasn't upset about anything.

He stopped at Mars Investigations first and found it locked up so headed over to her dad's. He could tell through his phone that his security gate hadn't been opened so he knew she wasn't there. When he got to Keith's he went up to the door and knocked. Darrell happened to be there and said that he hadn't seen Veronica either. Logan went back to his car to call her. It took a few rings before she answered.

"Hi." She said in a reserved quiet voice.

"So, I thought I'd call since I'm sitting in front of Keith's house wondering where my girlfriend is and figured she'd rather I call instead of tracking her cell phone. But I'm not opposed to the latter if she's trying to avoid me for some reason."

"Sorry." She replied with a bit of a sigh.

He also sighed in response. "What's wrong Veronica?"

It was fairly easy for her to lie on the phone, "Nothing."

"Okay," he tried to sound understanding, even though he could tell she was lying. "Where are you?"

"I'm at Wallace's." At least she was finally talking in more than one word responses. "I was going to have dinner with him and Cora."

"And your boyfriend's not invited?" He asked trying to sound curious and not upset.

"I didn't think you'd want to come" she said in a quieter voice.

"You sort of have to ask to know that don't you?" he replied gently.

She sighed. "I thought you might be mad at me for my outburst in the elevator."

"I wasn't mad at you, Veronica."

"Okay." she replied in a soft voice.

"Can I come over and talk to you in person please?" He asked calmly.

She sighed. "Okay, we're waiting for Cora to get back from an after school meeting so we are just hanging out here."

"Thank you, I'll see you soon. And Veronica?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really not mad and I love you, okay?" He intentionally phrased it in a way so it was easy for her to reply without pressure of what to say back.

She sighed and replied "okay."

When he reached Wallace's condo, Veronica was sitting on a bench on his front porch waiting for him.

He smiled as he approached her and crouched down in front of her resting his hands on her knees and gave her a quick kiss and a little wink before popping up and sitting down next to her.

"I'm really sorry, about earlier." She said in a resigned tone.

He wrapped his arm around her and she sighed and relaxed into him. "It's okay," He reassured her again. "I had a good talk with Alexis which I wouldn't have had a chance to do if I couldn't talk to her about Vanessa. I really think it's better that she knows what's going on so she can be there if Vanessa needs anything. So it's actually a good thing that it came out. I was just a little blindsided when the elevator opened to that. I was heading up to see how your meeting with Roger had gone."

"I don't know why I let her get me so mad. I hope Vanessa doesn't hate me for it." Veronica said as she looked down at her lap.

Logan put his hand under her chin and tilted her face toward him. "Vanessa thinks your great, and I'm sure she won't hold it against you." He placed a tender kiss on her lips and she smiled softly as their lips parted. "So tell me how your meeting with Roger went."

Her smile grew larger. "It went really well. He said he'd have someone in the office help look into if there are any special waivers we could get for the bar exam to make that transition a bit easier if possible. He was impressed with my undergrad in Criminology and had looked into a few of the cases I'd worked on in Massachusetts. Of course he was also pretty excited about my limited experience at the FBI too. We talked a bit about some of the cases he's been trying to build against the Fitzpatrick's too. He said he has an ADA who's going to go out on maternity leave in a few months and probably isn't coming back and he'd love for me to work with her until she leaves so I could take her spot."

"Right, Melanie." He looked thoughtful for a minute, "That baby could have been mine."

"Excuse me?" Veronica blurted out as her eyes opened widely.

"Wait, that didn't come out right." She gave him a horrified expression as she thought to herself that she couldn't imagine how that could come out right anyway he would have said it. He started speaking faster, realizing his blunder and taking in her expression. "Let me explain. Melanie's partner, Angela, works in the Assessors office and they golf with Roger and I sometimes, so we are all pretty good friends. When they were first talking about wanting to have a baby, they asked me one day when we were out golfing if I'd consider being a sperm donor for them. I politely declined, because that would have just been a bit too strange for me to know the baby was mine and not being able to be a part of its life."

She still had a puzzled expression on her face, but she didn't look quite as shocked as when he'd first said it. She took a deep breath. "Maybe you should think things through a few times in your head before you blurt them out."

He got a mischievous look on his face, considering her earlier outburst at Alexis. She must have realized what he was thinking because her expression became a bit embarrassed. "Yeah, maybe we should both try a little bit of that shouldn't we?" She said with a sly smile on her face.

He leaned in and gave her a tender kiss, and then nodded his head as it was still rested up against her forehead.

"So did you give Roger an answer?" He asked, trying to get them back on that topic and off the potential sperm donor one.

"He told me to take the weekend to think about it and to let him know next week what I've decided to do." She paused and took a deep breath. "I really think I'm going to do it though Logan." She watched him to see his reaction.

He looked genuinely happy and leaned in and kissed her again. "I'd love it if you stayed, you know that."

She let out a deep breath and looked down at his chest, "I wasn't so sure after my outburst in the elevator today."

He shook his head at her and placed his hands on both sides of her face forcing her eyes back up to his, "You know me better than that Veronica." He gently kissed her then pulled away looking intently in her eyes, "I love you more than anything or anybody else. Please don't jump to conclusions without talking to me first, okay?"

She nodded, and he leaned in and kissed her again. They both had blissful smiles as their lips parted after the kiss.

"So am I invited to dinner then?" He asked with a playful expression.

She smiled sweetly and nodded. He kissed her one more time, then stood up and reached out his hand so they could go inside together.

Wallace gave them both a slightly suspicious look when they finally came in still holding hands. "Finally, I was worried my neighbors were going to start complaining about the couple making out on my porch," he said in a teasing tone as he shook his head at them.

Veronica blushed slightly and Logan just grinned and pulled her a little closer. He leaned in and gave her a big kiss. Wallace groaned and rolled his eyes. "As much as I like both of you, I really didn't need to see that." He turned to walk back into the main room.

"So Veronica was telling me all about how you spoiled her on Catalina," Wallace said as they all sat down in the living room. Logan and Veronica sat next to each other on the couch and he put his arm around her, while Wallace sat in one of the recliners next to it. "Please don't tell Cora about it though, or it'll make me look bad. And then I'll have to take her and figure out how to charge it back to you. More of a hassle than either of us want to deal with, right man?"

Logan laughed and shook his head. "Always the romantic aren't you Fennel."

Wallace shrugged and smiled. "Not all of us are billionaire politicians, Echolls," he teased.

Logan glared a bit at him and shook his head again. "I think you're exaggerating my financial status a bit there, but I'll let it slide since I'm trying to make a good impression in front of your sister."

Veronica smiled and laughed at the two of them. Wallace got a devious grin on his face before he replied again, "I can't wait to see what sort of impression you'll have to make when Keith and Mom get back from their cruise in a few days." Veronica took a sharp inhale of air at his comment and Logan felt her tense up a bit.

"Hey, he's just teasing Veronica," Logan said as he squeezed her a little tighter. "I promise it will be fine. I told you, your dad and I get along really well now."

Wallace laughed, "Yeah, but that was before you let her shack up at your place and took her on two overnight trips. She's still his little girl you know."

Veronica glared at Wallace and gave him a warning look. "You haven't been giving them updates while they've been gone have you?" He shrugged, looking a bit guilty, and she picked up a pillow that was on the couch and chucked it at him hitting him in the chest.

"Come on, that's what siblings do. It's not my fault you don't know how to play the game very well, sis." He picked up the pillow and threw it back at her, giving her a devious look and drawing out the last word.

"Do I need to send the two of you to separate rooms?" Logan teased as he snagged the pillow in mid-air, preventing it from smacking Veronica right in the head. Veronica stuck her tongue out at Wallace, who just laughed back at her.

"I think you should send her to bed without dessert." Wallace replied in a snippy voice, drawing a shocked look and gasp of air from Veronica.

Logan waggled his eyes at her and replied seductively, "But it's more fun to have her for dessert in bed." Veronica laughed and poked him in the side as Wallace made a gagging sound.

"Okay, please stop before I lose my appetite and you ruin my dinner," Wallace pleaded with them. His phone beeped and he pulled it out of his pocket to check the message. "So Mac said they'll join us for dinner too."

Logan raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Veronica. She knew what he was thinking, that they'd invited them along and not him. She shrugged and gave him an innocent look. "We texted her after you were on your way over." He relaxed the look and smiled slightly.

"She also wants to know if we all want to go to Growlers after dinner." Wallace added, not noticing the little exchange between the other two as he had been starting to text her back.

Veronica gave Logan a knowing look, "Logan was going to help me with a case a bit later, but maybe when we're done with that we could meet up with you all there." Logan's expression became a bit grimmer, but he nodded in agreement.

Wallace laughed, "Well I'm glad she roped you into it and not me, man. I swear the time she made me wear a pocket protector and pretend to be a nerd still haunts my dreams." He shuddered and Veronica laughed.

Logan feigned a slightly confused look. "Pretend?" he teased Wallace, "that really couldn't have taken much acting on your part." There was another pillow on the side of Wallace's chair and he picked it up and chucked it at Logan.

Cora arrived a few moments later, greeting both Veronica and Logan with hugs and a big smile. Wallace gave her a quick kiss, and then they headed out the door. Veronica and Logan rode in his car, while the other two went in Cora's. They arrived shortly after at Mama Leone's where Mac and Dick were waiting and had already gotten them all a table.

After they were all seated, Mac asked Veronica to tell her and Cora all about Catalina, which drew groans from both Wallace and Dick. "Thanks for that man," Dick said giving Logan an irritated glare. "All I've heard about for the past 24 hours is how romantic Logan is for taking Veronica to Catalina and spoiling her at the best spa on the island." Wallace joined in also, shaking his head and looking disgruntled. Logan tried to look sympathetic but it wasn't really believable given the happy look on his face as Veronica shot him a blissful glance.

Logan kept his arm around Veronica during most of dinner, giving her quick kisses on the side of her head occasionally. Mac and Cora definitely seemed pleased with how close they'd gotten since Veronica had come back and exchanged a few looks between themselves. Dick and Wallace were either oblivious to it, or chose to just ignore it.

"So, Ronnie, how long are you sticking around for this time?" Dick asked with his usual lack of tact. Mac gave him a slightly annoyed look and poked him in the side. He returned the poke with a confused expression, and she just shook her head.

Veronica gave him a slightly annoyed look, and shrugged. "I'm not sure yet, but I did meet with the DA here today to talk about a job with his office."

"I'm sure your Dad and Alicia would be thrilled if you decided to move back to Neptune," Cora responded full of enthusiasm.

"Yeah, you know Keith would love that, Veronica," Wallace added, "even if you are mixed up with this unscrupulous city official." Logan shook his head and gave Wallace an irritated glare.

Veronica smiled contently as the boys went on to bicker back and forth over whether a recent movie sequel was better than the original, while Cora and Mac were busy talking about a new restaurant that had just opened in Neptune that Mac and Dick had visited. Veronica had noticed how much she missed them all when they were at Growlers together, and being here with them all at dinner just reminded her of that again. She looked happily at Logan, and he caught the glance and gave her a knowing smile back, pressing his lips to her forehead as he hugged her a little tighter.

"So are we surfing in the morning, man?" Dick asked Logan. "You've pretty much been dogging me since Ronnie's been back."

Logan looked at Veronica who gave him a small shrug. "Sure, why don't you come over in the morning and we'll surf by my place. You could bring Mac too and she could hang out with Veronica and we could all have breakfast when we're done."

"Sweet," Dick replied with a happy grin on his face.

Logan turned to Wallace, "Hey Fennel, you and Cora are welcome too come too, though I know surfing isn't really your thing. We'll probably want to hit the water before 7."

Wallace cringed, "Yeah, we'll see. Maybe we can catch up with you all later for breakfast." Cora laughed, knowing that Wallace really didn't like surfing, as well as waking up early on the weekends.

Mac had a similar expression to Wallace, "Yeah, I may just catch up with you all for breakfast later too." Dick laughed lightly at her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Their table was located close to the door and Veronica and Logan were on the side facing the entrance. About half way through their meals, Veronica looked over at Logan and noticed a slight frown on his face. Looking in the direction he was staring, she saw Alexis and David walking in the door. She saw Alexis give him an apologetic look, which Veronica didn't think she'd ever seen on that woman's face before, as she turned and spoke to David and they began walking back toward the door.

Logan sighed and then whispered to Veronica, "I'll be right back." She watched him as he stood up and walked toward the exiting couple. "Lexi, wait…" Veronica heard him say as he moved closer to them and farther from the table.

Alexis and David were already out the door when Logan reached them. "I'll meet you in the car in a moment," Alexis told David as she stopped and turned back to Logan. "I'm sorry, I didn't expect to run into you here." She had a puzzled look on her face, "I don't think I've ever known you to eat here before."

Logan sighed and shifted his gaze to the sidewalk for a moment before looking back at her. "This was always one of Veronica's favorite places, so I stopped coming here after she left." Alexis nodded knowingly in return.

"You don't have to leave just because we're here, it's fine Lexi."

"No, we'll just go somewhere else."

Logan glanced at the car, "So David's in town again?"

Alexis looked in the direction of the car and then back at Logan, "I wasn't lying when I told you he was passing through the other day. The group he's working for is opening a new clinic in San Diego and he's been spending part of his time down there to get it started. We've had dinner a few times on the days he's been traveling between LA and San Diego, and he was on his way back up tonight."

Logan gave her an understanding look and nodded. It wasn't as shocking running into them again as it had been Tuesday night at Hearst, though he still wasn't thrilled to see David. He decided to move off that topic before he let those emotions of betrayal surface again. "Did you get a hold of Vanessa this afternoon?"

Alexis nodded and smiled warmly at him. "Yeah, she hadn't reached Mom yet by the time I got a hold of her. She's going to take a ferry over in the morning and I'm going to meet her and we'll drive up and tell them in person. I think they'd rather not hear news like that over the phone. Thanks for telling me, even if she didn't want you to."

Logan looked at her with genuine appreciation in his expression and reached out to gently squeeze her shoulder, "Thank you for being there for her Lexi. I'm really sorry it came out the way it did, but I'm glad you'll be able to be there to help her through this."

She nodded and smiled back, "You'd better get back to your date before she gets upset with you." She gave him a little wink and started walking toward the car.

Veronica had been watching their interaction carefully through the window. She could mostly just see Logan's face though and not Alexis's. As he returned to the table she gave him a tentative smile. "Everything okay?" she asked a little suspiciously as he sat in his seat. He nodded and gave her a quick kiss on the head. Her suspicious expression remained in place as she took another bite of her meal.

He leaned in closer so he could whisper in her ear, "Relax Bobcat, everything is fine."

She gave him an apologetic look and replied back quietly, "I'm sorry I just don't really trust her."

He gave her a reassuring smile before responding softly back, "I'm not expecting you to trust her, but you trust me right?"

She nodded and smiled lovingly at him. He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. He rubbed his hand up and down her back while they continued eating until he finally felt some of the tension leave her body. He couldn't help but worry a bit about how things might be if the two of them were working in the same building together. He tried pushing that thought out of his mind as he started listening to Dick and Wallace arguing over which one of them was actually the better dancer. At least Veronica seemed to have relaxed and was also enjoying their heated debate.

After they were finished eating, the other four said they were headed to Growlers and hoped to see them there later, while Veronica and Logan headed back to the Mars Investigations Office to get ready for their visit to Troy's apartment.


	28. Chapter 28 - Spy Games

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 28 – Spy Games

As Logan drove them back to Mars Investigations, he noticed Veronica was being a little fidgety. She kept snapping and unsnapping a flap on her purse. "As enjoyable as that incessant little noise is, I can't help but wonder if there's something on your mind, Sugarpuss," He finally said in an exaggerated playful voice.

She laughed lightly and stopped, she hadn't heard him call her that since the one time at the Sunset Regent when she was pretending to be his fiancé. She let out a little sigh then spoke in a slightly annoyed tone, "I was just wondering what you and Alexis talked about tonight. You were out there for quite a while alone with her."

Logan gave her a slightly concerned look. He wasn't terribly surprised that she was wondering about that. "All you had to do was ask instead of torturing me with the clicking noise. Was that a torture technique they taught you at Quantico? How to make interrogation subjects spill their guts using only your purse." He gave her a big grin as he parked the car in front of the office. He turned the engine off and turned to look at her to talk, a bit more serious than he was initially. She looked up at him with a curious though slightly annoyed look on her face. He brushed some hair behind her ear before he spoke "Seriously though Veronica, any thing you want to know just ask. I'm sorry, if it bothered you that I went out to talk to her. I guess it's not as easy as I hoped to just change seven years of ingrained behavior. I promise I'll try to work on it though. I should have thought about it before I went out to talk to her. Obviously I could tell when I came back in that it was a stupid decision and that I should have thought more about it before I went out there." She gave him a half smile, though he could tell she was still a bit annoyed.

He paused momentarily, thinking back to the conversation before he continued, assuming she still really did want to know what they talked about. "We talked a little bit about David. Apparently she may not have invited him on Tuesday just to annoy me, though I'm sure there was a bit of that. He's actually been going back and forth between LA and San Diego setting up a new clinic for the group he's working with now. He was on his way back up tonight which is why he stopped to have dinner with her. I'd stopped going to Mama Leone's after you left, so she was pretty surprised to see me there since I may have refused to go there with her a few times over the years. She certainly didn't show up there just to cause trouble tonight if that means anything to you."

He watched her processing his response. He could easily tell she was still unhappy that Alexis had shown up there, and definitely even less happy that he'd gone out to talk to her. He wasn't sure yet how he was going to make her feel more comfortable around Alexis or if that would ever be possible. He felt conflicted because, even with all her faults, Alexis really had been there for him over the last seven years, and he wasn't sure he could just completely cut her out of his life, though he realized maybe he needed to work on some sort of changes that would make Veronica feel better about it. He was thankful that at least Alexis hadn't been her normal touchy self outside the restaurant.

Her annoyance seemed to be fading slightly, until he got to the end. "You know you sure seem to defend her a lot and I'm not sure how to feel about that."

He let out a slow deep exhale of air and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, I guess I do. Like I said, it's hard to completely change seven years of behavior in just a few days. But I see your point and I really am sorry." He looked at her pleadingly. He had moved his hand down to rest on her leg, and she tentatively rested her hand on top of it, before gently rubbing her fingers over his.

"Did it still bother you to see David with her tonight?" she asked softly as she looked down at his hand. He could tell she was definitely still fishing around indirectly to figure out his feelings about Alexis. Even though he'd told her several times how he felt, he knew this was Veronica, and she'd only stop digging and asking when she'd exhausted all the angles and convinced herself. And he was starting to realize that his behavior had probably conflicted with some of what he'd told her.

He shook his head, "No, it was less of a shock this time. I really hadn't seen him since walking in on them in our house, so it was surprising to see him Tuesday night. Even when he resigned from the foundation, he did it through one of the other senior staff members, and not me, so the last time I'd seen him before that, he was completely indisposed in my living room." His tone shifted slightly as a bit of the anger came back again. "When I walked in and caught them, I guess I yelled a few things, and then stormed back out and by the time I came back he was gone. So my parting memories of him weren't at all fond. He'd tried to call a few times, but I never took his calls. He also left a few voicemails, but I deleted them without even listening to them." He shook his head realizing he was getting frustrated over it again, which really wasn't going to help things with Veronica. "But that was a long time ago," He did his best to get a neutral look back on his face before continuing. "I'm still not ready to be friends with him or anything like that though, but if he and Alexis are spending time together, that really is their business and not mine. Not anymore."

She nodded and smiled slightly at him. Her time as both a PI and a lawyer had honed her skills of reading people, although at times she still made the mistake of letting her own emotions get in the way of that. She couldn't help but notice he'd started the story with it being "our" house although part way through she noticed he'd changed it back to "my". It did still bother her some that the two of them had bought the house together, but she was trying her best not to dwell on that. She also caught the intentional change in his demeanor when he realized he was starting to get mad about what had happened back then. Even though she wasn't thrilled that he still had strong feelings about something that happened three years ago, she was glad to see the mature version of him had learned how to reign in those emotions and keep them under control. She was also still struggling with his closeness to Alexis. Even though he admitted it was hard for him to just turn his back on her, she wondered if he realized how much impact she was still having on his behavior.

After a brief pause he continued again. "I also asked her if she'd talked to Vanessa." Her expression became a bit concerned as he said that, knowing it had been her fault that Alexis had found out about it. He moved his hand up to her chin and gently ran his finger along her jaw line. "I told you not to feel bad about that," he said softly as he saw her expression shift. She shrugged and let out a little sigh. "She said Vanessa is going to take the ferry over in the morning and Alexis is going to meet her and drive her to their parents so she can be there when she tells them in person." He smiled genuinely at her and tried to reassure her, "So like I said earlier, it's a good thing that it came out when it did. I knew Alexis would support her once she found out. She may be a difficult bitch sometimes, but she really does love her sister. And I agree, since I know both her parents and Vanessa, it will be better for that conversation to happen in person."

He let out a slightly troubled sigh, "Vanessa has always been the type to really personalize everything that people might do, even if it wasn't really directed at her. You know, say a friend had to cancel doing something with her because some other conflict came up. Vanessa would always jump to the conclusion that she'd done something her self instead and the person had just made up the excuse. So you can imagine how bad things were after the accident. That was the reason for some of her reaction at lunch as well. I can't imagine what might run through her head if she'd had the conversation with her Mom over the phone. Knowing Maggie though, she would have been on the first ferry over to Catalina at least and so I know she would have taken care of things when she got there. But this will be better because there won't be the chance for Vanessa to misinterpret what might have had happened with a phone call."

She had been watching him intently as he was talking about Vanessa. He hadn't really mentioned their parents much, but given they were engaged for quite awhile, it wasn't surprising he might be close to them too. Given Logan's lack of stable parental figures growing up, it made sense that if the opportunity had arisen that gave him that sort of connection to family that he'd likely gravitate toward it. She smiled a little at him when he was done talking and he leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss before sitting back up.

"Can you forgive me for being an idiot tonight?" He said with an apologetic look on his face. She sighed and looked down at her lap for a moment.

"You know it wasn't just tonight right?' She turned back to face him again with that slight look of annoyance back again.

He slowly nodded. "I'm sorry about earlier at City Hall too. We should have talked more about it earlier at Wallace's. I was so preoccupied worrying about Vanessa that I should have thought more about your feelings when it happened."

She wasn't thrilled, but she also needed them to move past this at least for now so they could focus on what they needed to do for the case. She really did want to try to do things differently with him this time, and maybe it was going to take some time for them to work through all of the challenges. At least he admitted he was wrong today. "You know, just a tip, girlfriends typically like to be the main focus of their boyfriend's attention, or so I've heard." She gave him a little wink, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

He took a deep breath and leaned in and kissed her again. "I'll be sure to remember that. Thanks for the tip."

"And just to clarify, I know we've had this discussion before, but there is a difference between annoyance and jealousy." She watched him to see if he remembered that day.

She wasn't sure if his smile was fear or amusement, when he responded, "Oh yes, I believe it involved piano wire if I'm not mistaken." She game him a sly smile and nodded, pleased that he did remember that conversation.

He smiled at her for a moment, then glanced passed her at the entrance to the office, reminding him of why they were there again. He took a deep breath, and then turned putting his hands on the wheel again. She could see his grip tighten around the leather cover. "So, time to go and get all spy geared up?" She could sense the tension in his voice as his focus changed from talking about Vanessa and Alexis, to worrying about their mission tonight. She also noticed that his body posture was very rigid and he was frowning as he stared at the steering wheel.

"It'll be fine Logan," She reassured him as she gave him her most convincing smile when he turned to look at her. He nodded with a grim expression on his face, before reaching over to open his door. She opened hers as well and waited as he walked around the car to join her. She entwined her fingers with his as they headed up the stairs to the office. As they reached the point in the hall that he'd spun and kissed her before, he gave her a leering smile and grabbed her. He pushed her gently against the wall and pressed his lips to hers. "It's tradition now, you know," he commented with a slightly teasing tone to his voice after their lips parted. Even though she knew he was trying to be playful, she could tell he was still really stressed about the trip to Troy's apartment. She smiled back for a moment and placed a tender kiss on his lips before lightly shoving him off so she could unlock the office door.

Veronica told him he could wait on the couch while she went to find the right transmitter that she wanted to use. She returned shortly from Keith's office with the small transmitter, and sat at her desk after taking his phone to get the right app installed that they would need to use so he could listen to it. She had an extra Bluetooth earpiece and synched it with his phone to make it easier for him to listen without having to hold the phone or run it through the car Bluetooth. He'd insisted that he be able to get out and still hear her if needed, so she suggested the Bluetooth earpiece idea.

"I think it should be ready to go. We should try it out though." She said to him as he stood and walked toward the desk. "I'll go into my Dad's office and whisper into it, and you can stay out here and listen through the earpiece."

She quickly showed him which app to start to get it going, then took the transmitter into the office and sat at Keith's desk. Logan leaned against her desk at an angle that he could see her through the open door.

She covered her mouth slightly to make it so he couldn't just hear her through the door and whispered into the bug. "You know I was thinking you deserve some sort of prize for helping me tonight." She saw him smile and nod, letting her know the bug was working, as well as his agreement that he deserved to be rewarded. She continued in a very low sultry voice with her expression becoming seductive, "I was thinking when we get back to your place I could put on my Strip Club outfit and give you a lap dance. I'd even let you touch me where ever you want." She watched his eyes grow wider and his expression turn to a mix of surprise and lust. She grinned deviously and continued to purr into the bug, "You can be the corrupt politician and I'll be your secret mistress. Then after your lap dance, I'll do a special striptease for you." She saw him take a deep breath as he was trying to control himself and shook his head at her giving her a slightly frustrated look. "I guess the transmitter's working?" she asked in a more normal whisper.

"You're a horrible tease," he said loud enough from her desk that she could hear him.

She whispered into the bug again, "It won't be teasing when I really do it tonight when we get back to your place. Although I did promise a strip-'tease', so I guess you have a point, though I don't think it will be horrible." She gave him a seductive wink and smiled back at him.

He shook his head, and took the earpiece out, laying it on her desk with his phone and headed into Keith's office. "How about I get a sneak peak of that lap dance for now?" She had stood up from Keith's desk as he'd entered the room and as he picked a side of the desk to walk around to try to get to her, she started heading around the other way to evade him.

She laughed at him as she kept her distance from him by moving opposite of where he was behind the desk, "You'd actually sit in my dad's chair and let me give you a lap dance?" She saw him visibly shudder when she said 'dad's chair'.

"Thanks for ruining the mood, Bobcat," He said with a disgruntled look on his face.

She laughed a bit harder and sprinted out of the room back to the outer office. She stopped at her own desk and waited for him to come back out. He slowly wandered out to where she was and replaced the disgruntled look with a sly grin. He pinned her up against her desk and then lifted her up so she was sitting on the edge so he could more easily kiss her without having to bend down as far. He maneuvered between her thighs and pulled her up against him as he kissed her deeply. When his lips parted she was slightly winded and he rested his forehead against hers. "Couldn't we skip the whole spy games part and just go home for my prize? I think I deserve it for putting up with your torturous teasing."

She shook her head and gave him a loving smile, "Sorry, work first then play." She paused a moment and added with a seductive wink, "but I promise to make it worth your while."

He took a deep breath and kissed her one more time, before releasing her thighs and walking back over to pout on the couch. She hopped down off the desk and laughed slightly at his expression. "Oh come on, spy games can be fun too."

He raised a questioning eyebrow at her and crossed his arms across his chest. "Don't forget Mr. Sparky." She smiled and nodded, going around to open a drawer in her desk. She pulled the taser out and squeezed the trigger to be sure the batteries were working. "Ah, fond memories," he teased. A little smirk crossed his lips though he tried not to let her see it by tipping his head down.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "What was that, Mr. Honesty?"

He shook his head and looked a bit sheepish. "Just thinking back to Piz's reaction when I used it in the food court on the jerk that was pounding on Dick when we started our freshman year at Hearst."

She couldn't help but smile slyly back at him. She remembered that exchange as well and remembered she was a little turned on watching him take down the guy with her taser. He noticed a little glimmer in her eye and his sheepish look changed to a more confident smile.

She opened her laptop and pulled up the tracker program. It was 8:45 and Troy had left shortly after 8pm and gone to The Clover. "We should probably head over and get this taken care of. The sooner we are finished, the sooner you get your reward." She waggled her eyebrows at him, drawing a more relaxed smile from him. They walked toward the door and he waited for her to lock it before he grabbed her and spun her in the hall, pressing her against the wall for a deep kiss before stepping back and extending his arm for her to lead the way down the stairs. She shook her head at him, and grabbed his shirt, spinning them again, so his back was against the wall and pressing her lips to his for one more passionate kiss. He grinned broadly as she let go of his shirt and headed down the stairs to his car.

When they arrived at Troy's complex, she showed him where to park so he would be able to easily see the front door of his apartment. She pointed out which one was his and then started to open the door to get out. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back, giving her one more passionate kiss. "Please be careful," he said with concern in his voice, as he rested his forehead against hers after the kiss.

"Always," she said softly, then opened the door and climbed out. She signaled for him to turn on the transmitter app as she closed the door. She had the transmitter in the upper pocket of her coat. "Can you hear me okay?" she asked as she looked at him through the window. He nodded, and she couldn't help but notice the extreme look of worry he had on his face. "It will be fine Logan, just relax," she said softly giving him a reassuring smile. He nodded again, and tried to smile, but it wasn't very convincing. She gave him a little wave and started walking toward the apartment building.

She saw an apartment door across the complex from Troy's that had a sign that read 'Building Superintendent'. "Game time," she whispered softly, partly to herself, but also to remind Logan that what was coming next was all part of her act. She put on her best devastated face and knocked on the door, and as she heard someone approach, she started to fake sob. A lady in her late 50s opened the door slightly to see who had knocked.

"I'm so sorry…" Veronica choked out between her fake sobs, "I just don't know what else to do… I just want to go home…"

"There, there sweetie," the lady said in a soothing tone, "What on earth is wrong dear?"

Veronica sniffled a bit more, "My boyfriend and I had a fight…" she paused to sob a few more times, "and I ran out of his apartment… I was going to take the bus home… but realized when I got to the stop that I'd left my purse at his apartment." She rubbed at her eyes. She'd been sure to wear eye makeup that would easily smear and had just enough moisture from her eyes that it looked quite convincing. "Even if I tried to walk all the way home, I also forgot my keys, so I still wouldn't be able to get in…" she sobbed harder again, "Why do these things always happen to me?" She paused and sucked in a few deep breaths of air, "And then when I came back he was gone and his apartment is locked so I can't get my things."

"Oh honey, it will be okay," The kind woman said trying to reassure her. Veronica could tell from her expression that she was totally buying her act.

"I was hoping you might have a spare set of keys and could let me in?" Veronica asked desperately.

"Of course dear, who'd you say your boyfriend is?"

She sniffled a couple more times, "T.J. Vandegraff in apartment 106."

She saw the woman make a disapproving face. Apparently she wasn't a big fan of Troy either. "Just hold on one second dear," the woman said and closed her door for a moment. Veronica smiled briefly as the door closed, pleased with herself that things were going better than she had even hoped.

Logan had been listening in the car, and given he'd seen several of Veronica's performances before, he wasn't surprised at how well she was playing the lady. He was also relieved that the super sounded like a sweet lady and not some sleezy guy who he'd have to worry about on top of everything else. He was still tense about the whole situation, but relieved that so far everything seemed to be going the way Veronica had hoped it would.

The lady reappeared at the door, with a set of keys in her hand and put her arm around Veronica who had returned to sniffling and sobbing when she heard the lady coming back toward the door. "Come on honey, I'll open the door for you."

A moment later, Logan could hear the door being opened. Veronica sniffled, and wiped at her eyes again, "Would it be okay if I go in the bathroom and get cleaned up a bit before I go to the bus? I'd hate to look like this on the ride home."

The lady smiled gently at her and nodded, "Of course dear, just be sure to lock the door when you leave. This can just be our little secret. You should try to find your self a nice young man and not waste your time on him."

Veronica sniffled and nodded, then went into Troy's apartment, closing the door behind her. She stood by the door for a moment, and heard the other woman walking back to her apartment. "Easy peasy," she said knowing Logan would hear her.

The apartment was small, as she'd expected it to be. There appeared to only be one bedroom off the slightly separated kitchen and living room space. There was a couch and a chair, and a small entertainment cabinet with a TV and a few other media components. There was also a desk in the living room, and she decided she would start there. She opened the bottom drawer on the right side and only found a few papers, mostly things like electric and phone bills. She flipped through them and didn't find anything interesting. The drawer on top of that one had several take out menus for various restaurants in it. "So far nothing suspicious," she said out loud so Logan wouldn't be worried.

The bottom drawer on the other side had a small locked safety box in it. "This is interesting," she said quietly. "He has a small locked box in his desk. I wonder what he might be hiding in this." She pulled it out to better inspect it. It had an electronic pad to enter the code to open it. She looked closely to see if she could figure out which buttons looked as if they had been used. The box itself was fairly heavy so it was hard for her to tell what might be inside. It looked fairly new and there wasn't any indication that any buttons had been used more than the others. She took a picture of it with her phone to send to Mac to see if she would have any ideas of how to override the lock.

Logan was drumming his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. He was glad she had said a few things since getting into the apartment, but the waiting was quickly getting to him. He was trying to take deep relaxing breaths, but that wasn't helping at all. He kept watching the digital clock on the dash of the car and it seemed like it was taking forever for the minutes to go by. He saw a car pull into the parking lot next to the apartments, which immediately put him on edge. Since it was dark, all he saw were headlights as the car turned off the street and not much else. He watched for the driver to come into view, but no one did. He kept his eye on the front door of Troy's apartment, hoping that she'd be done soon, as well as to be sure the driver wasn't Troy returning to his apartment for some reason.

Veronica was about to put the safe back in the drawer when she heard the click of a door. 'Shit, I completely forgot about the back door,' she immediately thought to herself. She quickly put the safe back and barely had the drawer closed, before she saw Troy's figure in the kitchen. He was reaching for a wallet she hadn't noticed on the counter when she came in since she'd barely glanced in the kitchen at all. It took him a second before he finally registered there was someone standing in his living room.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He demanded as he turned toward her.

Her mind was racing now. She thought she would try to smooth things over before Logan came busting through the door. She was sure he was probably out of the car the moment he heard Troy's voice come across the transmitter, and if she could fake her way through this maybe he wouldn't bust through the door.

"Hey! I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by and see how you've been. Your front door opened slightly when I knocked, so I came in to leave a note since you weren't at home." She gave him her sweetest most convincing smile.

He gave her his perfectly sweet smile she remembered from high school and the same charming laugh. "Clever Veronica, but I'm not that stupid."

He was getting closer to her as they spoke, and she was trying to inch her way back toward the front door, but he strategically positioned himself between her and the exit. It would take her longer to try to make it to the back door, and going that way she wouldn't have Logan to back her up as quickly. She slowly reached into her pocket that contained her taser, but he caught the motion and quickly lunged at her grabbing at her wrist before she could fully get it out of her pocket.

"I don't think so Veronica." His sweet smile was now gone and his voice had become more angry. He twisted the taser out of her grip and looked at it carefully.

"I'm sure this doesn't feel very pleasant does it," he said a bit threateningly as he pulled the trigger, causing it to spark. He'd released Veronica's wrist and she took a step back. "So let's try this again," he paused to pull the trigger again, staring at her intently and his voice rising a bit more, "what the hell are you doing in my apartment?"


	29. Chapter 29 - De ja vu

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 29 – Deja vu

Troy had barely gotten the last word out as Logan came charging through the door. Luckily Troy's back was to the door so it gave Logan a second or two to assess Troy's position before Troy was able to turn around. The moment he turned, Logan's fist hit Troy in the face. The force of the blow landed mostly on Troy's nose and luckily his reaction was to drop the taser to reach up to his face. He wasn't expecting to be ambushed from behind and that gave Logan an upper hand and he immediately shoved Troy into the wall with his forearm across his throat making it difficult for Troy to breath.

"What the hell?" Troy choked out. "Fuck Logan, I think you broke my nose."

Logan growled back, "you're lucky that's all I broke for you trying to hurt Veronica."

"I wasn't going to hurt her," Troy yelled out, at least as much as he could with Logan's arm still firmly applying pressure on his windpipe.

Veronica walked over and closed the door so none of the neighbors would walk by and see them. "Just like you didn't hurt Debbie?" Veronica angrily asked, emphasizing the word didn't.

"I didn't hurt Debbie either." Troy replied, as he was able to get one hand up to try to stop the blood that was starting to drip from his nose.

"Don't lie Troy," Veronica spat out. "I know you drove her car to the bridge the night it was abandoned. What did you do to her?"

"It's not what you think," Troy said with his tone becoming more frustrated than angry. He'd tried to wrestle away from Logan, but he'd applied more pressure on his throat and Troy had backed off a bit.

"Sorry, but that's what guilty people always say." Veronica eyed him suspiciously. She'd retrieved her taser from where Troy had dropped it and squeezed the trigger to threaten him in return. "Let's try this again, what did you do to Debbie?" She asked as she took a step closer.

"Why do you even care?" Troy asked, his defiance starting to resurface.

"Because I knew her a long time ago, and Casey Gant hired me to find out the truth about what happened to her." She paused a moment, "and if you killed her I swear I'll make you pay."

What sounded like a scoff came from Troy's mouth, though with Logan's arm across his throat it was hard to tell. "We've played this game before Veronica and I was telling the truth then just like I am now."

"Yeah, well there wasn't an incriminating picture or phone call that time," she replied with a look of disgust on her face.

Troy's expression became a bit curious then more resigned, "I knew you sticking your nose into this was going to become a major pain in my ass." Logan apparently didn't like his response and pushed on his throat with a bit more force, causing Troy to grimace in pain.

Troy put both hands on Logan's arm, trying to pull him off somewhat. "Let me go and I'll prove I'm telling the truth." Logan narrowed his eyes at Troy while Veronica chuckled slightly.

"Fine," Troy said in a resigned tone when he realized Logan had no intention of letting him go. Get out the safe I'm sure you saw in my desk.

Veronica went over and opened the bottom drawer and pulled out the safe. "The code is 8573."

Logan gave her a worried look, which Troy noticed. "I swear it's not rigged with anything. I'll happily open it if you let me go."

Veronica shook her head at Logan and punched in the code. She carefully opened the top and let out a sigh as she reached inside and flipped open a leather case. She still looked angry as she picked it up and flashed Troy's DEA badge so Logan could see it too. "This doesn't prove you didn't kill her Troy."

Troy had a slight grin on his face now and snapped back at her, "I would actually be disappointed in you if you thought it did."

Logan didn't like his tone, and put more pressure on his throat again. Troy coughed again and tried pulling Logan's arm away. "Fuck, Logan." He barely squeaked out.

Logan released a bit of his pressure and Troy coughed again giving him an angry glare. "Debbie's not dead. Hit redial on the phone in the safe and put the phone on speaker and I'll prove it. "

Veronica gave him an uncertain look but then did as he said. It took a few rings but then a sleepy, very worried female voice came across the line. "TJ? Is something wrong?"

"No baby, sorry for waking you up." He looked intently at Veronica, "Casey hired a PI to look into your suicide and I don't want her causing any trouble so I wanted you to let her know you're OK."

"Hi Debbie, this is Veronica Mars. We meet a long time ago at the Moon Calf Collective." Veronica said into the phone.

"Veronica?" Debbie asked, sounding like she was trying to place the voice with a face.

Veronica recognized her voice, so knew it was her. "I just want to be sure you're safe and not in any danger."

"I'm safe here." Debbie replied. "TJ are you sure you're okay? You said you'd only call this phone if there was an emergency."

"I know baby, I'm okay. Go back to sleep and I'll try to talk with you soon."

"I miss you." Debbie said in a sad voice.

Troy let out a sigh. "I know. I miss you too, baby." Debbie said goodbye and then disconnected the call and Veronica set the phone down.

"Can you call off your guard dog now and let me explain without his ulna smashing my windpipe?"

Logan glared at him then turned to look at Veronica. She nodded and he released Troy and went to stand next to Veronica. She could tell every muscle in his body was tensed, ready to attack if Troy did anything he didn't like.

"Can I go and get some ice and a towel for my nose?" Troy asked before leaving his spot. Logan shot Veronica a concerned look. Troy shook his head and a small grin formed on his face. "You're way to suspicious man. If you're worried I have a gun or something stashed in the freezer, maybe you could get it for me." He slumped into the chair nearest him and tilted his head back pressing on the side of his nose. There was a fair amount of blood that had run down to his shirt as well as the side of Logan's arm.

"I'll get it," Veronica said as she handed Logan the taser and headed toward the kitchen. Logan stood completely still, glaring at Troy.

Veronica returned a few minutes later with a dish towel and a small icepack for Troy and a wet cloth that she handed to Logan and pointed to the blood on his arm. When he took the rag she noticed his knuckles on his right hand where busted open a bit too. "Do you want some ice for that?" she asked pointing to his hand.

His jaw was still firmly clenched and he just shook his head. She gave him a concerned look, but then turned her attention back to Troy.

"So TJ," she said in a slightly mocking tone. "You'd better have a good explanation before I report you for faking her suicide."

Troy gave her a little smirk. "I think we both know I didn't actually do anything illegal, but I'll explain anyway since I know how tenacious you can be."

She heard Logan make a slight disgruntled sound next to her. Troy heard it too and shook his head slightly. "I'm an undercover agent with the DEA. I came to Neptune to try to take down the Fitzpatrick's drug network from the inside."

"And Leo?" Veronica asked curiously.

Troy gave her a surprised look since he didn't expect her to know about his connection to Leo. He nodded then continued, "He's the only one at the Sheriff's Office that knows I'm undercover. My superiors contacted him before they sent me out. They weren't convinced that the Fitzpatrick's didn't have anyone connected to them at the Sheriff's Office, but Leo's record looked clean enough and they took the chance so I had a way to pass information back to them."

Veronica nodded then spoke again. "What happened with Debbie?"

Troy sighed deeply and his face took on a distressed expression. "I met her a month or so after moving to town, and really wasn't looking for a relationship, but we just connected and before I knew it, I had fallen for her. She didn't know at the time of course that I was an undercover agent." He blew out another deep breath of air. "One night she'd come to see me at The Clover and stayed until closing time. We were supposed to meet outside by my car, but when I got there, she wasn't there. She texted me to drive around to the next street over and pick her up. She'd gone out the wrong back exit and had stumbled across Liam Fitzpatrick and a few of his crew beating up a guy who'd double-crossed him. They didn't realize she was there, and she witnessed Liam stabbing him multiple times before he sliced his throat. Unfortunately when that happened, she let out a gasp, which someone heard, but she was able to take off down the alley and hide where they couldn't find her." He paused a moment before he continued. "They didn't get a really good look at her, but he had Molly pull up the security camera footage. Molly gave me a heads up that they were trying to find out who she was, and she knew if he asked the right people, they'd connect her back to me and find her."

Veronica looked a little surprised that Molly had actually helped him. "Molly isn't really that bad, she's just stuck with a crappy family. She may not be able to stop Liam, but that doesn't mean she agrees with everything he does. She's done her best to keep herself clean so if the family goes down, she won't lose everything." He paused for a moment touching the side of his nose again to see if it had stopped bleeding and to see how swollen it was. He gave Logan an angry glare as he did, which Logan returned back at him with his own. "Unfortunately we haven't been able to find the body though, and the guy was some low-life that we haven't even been able to get a name on, so without that there isn't anything to charge Liam with yet." For a moment, an expression passed over Veronica's face. Of course helping to take Liam down would be something she'd jump at the chance to do. Troy may have noticed it, but didn't say anything about it, and continued on. "So I decided the best way to protect Debbie, since there really wasn't an official crime yet to try to get her state protection for, was to fake her suicide and then send her to Florida to stay with my former partner on the police force there. I knew I could trust him to protect her until we got things sorted out here. If we can find the body, then we can charge him and she could go into an official witness protection program if necessary." A sad look passed over his face. Veronica realized he may not be able to keep seeing her if that were to happen.

"And Leo agreed with your plan to fake her death?" Veronica asked skeptically.

Troy shook his head. "No, I didn't fill him in on that before hand. So he was less than thrilled when he found out later. Especially given the approach I took." He glanced at Logan with a slight look of remorse. "Bodies don't usually turn up when they fall into that bay."

Veronica could see Logan in her peripheral vision and didn't have to turn to see his reaction to that. She felt horrible, but she also knew he wouldn't want to show any sort of weakness in front of Troy. She could see him clench his jaw even tighter and his glare had gotten a bit more intense.

Troy turned his focus back to Veronica, "If Liam finds out she's still alive, you know he'd stop at nothing to find her. So I don't think you should let Casey know what's going on."

Veronica shook her head at Troy. "Casey will understand and he won't say anything that could get back to Liam. I'm not going to lie to him about this Troy."

Troy let out an angry huff and shook his head. "Fine, but it doesn't go beyond him, or you're putting her life at risk, and I don't think you want to live with that, do you?"

Veronica saw Logan's biceps flex as he clenched his fists together tighter. He didn't like Troy's threatening tone. Veronica finally reached over and put her hand on his wrist. "No, I don't. And I understand."

Troy looked between the two of them. "Are we done here then?" He asked in a frustrated tone.

Veronica nodded and headed toward the door with Logan staying right by her side. Logan opened the door for her to leave and she hesitated a moment before walking through and looked back at Troy. "Be careful Troy, and I hope you're able to find a way for her to come back to you."

He smiled gratefully at her as he said thanks.

Veronica walked out the door and waited a moment as Logan pulled the door closed behind them. She could tell he was still completely on edge, and he hadn't said a word almost the entire time in the apartment. "Hey, it's okay," she said to him as she ran her hand along his cheek. He grabbed her and pulled her close as his lips pressed against hers. For a brief moment she felt the same feeling she'd felt all those years ago in front of the Camelot. Once again he'd come to her rescue, regardless of the situation they were actually in. He stood there for a moment, with his forehead against hers after their lips parted and took a deep breath, but still didn't say anything. "Let's go home, okay?" She said as she reached out and took his hand.

He held her hand tightly as they walked back to the car. He went around and opened the car door for her, grabbing her around the waist and hugging her tightly before she climbed in. She could tell he was still completely on edge from how tense his body was. "It really is okay, Logan. You can relax now." He nodded and tried to smile before walking around and getting into the driver's seat.

He climbed into his side and when he put his hand on the gear shift, she gently reached over and put hers on top of it, gently rubbing the tips of her fingers across the abrasions on his knuckles. "Thanks for coming to my rescue." She said softly. He sighed and lifted her hand so he could kiss the back of it.

"Of course," he finally said, giving her a slightly concerned look, before setting her hand on his leg and then driving away. He gently rubbed his fingers over hers as he drove silently back to his house. She could tell he was still not really handling what had happened very well, so decided to just stay quiet herself until they got back to his house. She was hoping by then he would have processed through it all and be back to normal. She sent a text to Mac to let her know that they weren't coming to Growlers, that everything was fine and that she'd fill her in as much as she could tomorrow. She trusted Mac enough to keep Debbie's secret, though she knew they couldn't let too many people know.

When they got back to his house, she gave him a warm smile before she opened her door to get out. She waited for him to walk around to meet her, and then held his hand as they walked inside. She could feel the tension still wasn't gone yet in the way he held on to her hand and by the way he was walking. When they entered the house, she gave him a mischievous smile and started to head to the stairs, "I'll go put on my strip club outfit and you can pick your favorite chair."

He reached out and gently grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him. "Not tonight," He said softly as he held her tight against him. She nodded her head against him, and rubbed her hands up and down his back.

"It really is okay, Logan. There's nothing to worry about now." He let out a frustrated huff of air, then released her and took her hand and headed toward the couch.

She sat down studying him carefully as he sat down next to her. She became worried when he didn't look her in the eyes, but instead stared intently down at where their hands were joined together on her lap.

His voice barely came out above a whisper and she immediately recognized the tone from when he broke up with her in the quad at Hearst. "I think you should go back to Massachusetts, Veronica."

"Logan…" She said in a firm tone.

He interrupted her before she could continue, "Things like this didn't happen to you there. You've only been back a couple weeks and you've already practically been attacked with your own taser again." He took his free hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. "When I heard him threaten you tonight before I got there, every single time you were in trouble flashed through my head, Veronica."

Veronica's tone softened, "Logan, he wasn't going to hurt me. I think you're over reacting." She took her free hand and gently rubbed it across his cheek, then rested it on his chin so she could turn his head to look her in the eyes. "Everything is okay Logan. I'm okay." She was looking lovingly into his eyes trying to convince him that everything was okay. "The case is over now so there's nothing more to worry about."

He sighed sadly looking desperately into her eyes. "I saw the look on your face Veronica. You can't tell me that part of you doesn't want to help Troy take down Liam."

She sighed and looked at her lap for a moment before looking back at him, "You're right, a part of me does want that. But I wouldn't do it alone."

He let out a frustrated sigh. "Did you know there was a back door to his apartment before you went in?"

"I'm sorry, I completely forgot about it until he came in through it."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he spoke in a shaky voice. "If he had been trying to hurt you, there was no way for me to stop him in time Veronica. And that forgotten bit of information could have gotten you killed if he was a murderer."

"But he wasn't," she said in a reassuring voice.

He shook his head in frustration, "but you didn't know that when you went in there."

"You're right, maybe I'm a little out of practice on the PI thing, but my dad will be back soon and maybe I can just help from the DA side of things."

He leaned back on the couch, pulling his hand away from her and looked up at the ceiling. He put both hands on his head and closed his eyes. "You have no idea how terrified I was when I heard his voice and then the taser, Veronica." He hesitated a moment and tried to get control of his voice that was starting to tremble. "I never told you about the nightmares I used to have. They started after Cassidy and the rooftop. I never had them when you were with me, so I never mentioned them. They'd sort of stopped for awhile until you were attacked in the parking garage at Hearst. It was always the worst case scenario of every bad thing that happened to you, and I was never able to save you. Aaron, Cassidy, Mercer, Liam…" His voice was trembling as he fought back tears.

She scooted over and wrapped her hands around his neck, gently pulling his head back toward her. He dropped his arms and wrapped them around her letting his head rest on her shoulder. She soothingly ran her arms across the top of his shoulders. He squeezed her tightly and she felt a tear roll down her shoulder.

"I don't want to lose you Veronica, and I'm so afraid that if you stay in Neptune that something bad will happen to you." He said barely above a whisper.

"Shhh…" she whispered back. "You've always been there to save me Logan. Nothing bad will happen if we're together."

She felt him shake his head against her neck. His voice broke as he tried to speak, "no I wasn't always there…"

She squeezed him a little tighter, "you were there when it mattered the most and when no one else was there to save me."

He took a deep breath, and squeezed her a little tighter before relaxing a little bit. "I think you'd be safer in Massachusetts," he finally said quietly after a few minutes of silence.

"But I wouldn't be happy there without you," she said sadly back.

She felt him swallow hard, and then squeezed her tightly again. They sat there for a while, in the same position. She finally straightened up a bit and moved her body back so she could look at him again. She gave him a loving smile and leaned in and gave him a tender kiss. "Let's go up to bed, okay?"

He gave her a sad smile and nodded. He stood up and then walked over to turn on the security system. She waited for him at the base of the stairs, and then took his hand and led him up to the master bedroom. He grabbed a pair of sleep pants from his dresser and took them into the bathroom with him to change. She heard him turn on the water and start to brush his teeth. She grabbed a camisole and matching lace shorts to change into and then went in and brushed her teeth too. As they passed in the doorway, she put her arms around his waist and looked up lovingly at him. He tried to smile at her, but it didn't really reach his eyes. She leaned up on her tip toes and gave him a kiss, then went into brush her teeth too.

When she came back out, he was sitting up waiting for her, and once she climbed into bed, he turned off the light and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against him. She rested her head on his chest, and put one hand above his heart, and slowly ran it back and forth.

"At least tonight had a much happier outcome than I had expected." She finally said after they'd been laying there for a little while.

"Yeah," he said softly. He relaxed his grip with one arm, and brushed it over her hair for a little bit instead. "I knew I shouldn't have doubted Leo, though that call I overheard really had me worried."

She nodded her head against his chest. "Casey will be so happy when he hears she's actually alive. I know it may be tough if he never gets to see her again, but he'll be so relieved to know she's actually safe."

She leaned up and ran her hand across his cheek, then leaned in and gave him a passionate kiss. "I'm so sorry this was difficult for you. Thank you for being there for me though." He nodded and rested his head against hers. She reached up and kissed him again, hoping it might put him more at ease. He did seem to relax a little bit, but then repositioned them, so her head was on his chest again, and his arms were around her. He rested his cheek against her forehead and tenderly kissed her there.

"I'm so glad you're here safely in my arms," he said in a shaky whisper again.

"Oh Logan," she said softly, "everything really is OK." She squeezed him a little tighter, and felt him take a shuddering deep breath. She reached up with one hand and gently stroked it along his cheek. He closed his eyes, and removed one of his hands from her waist and wrapped it around her hand, kissing it softly before placing it over his heart. He kept his hand on top of it, stroking it softly with his fingers.

After a few minutes of silence, Logan took a deep breath and spoke again. His voice sounded a bit less shaky now, though still very serious. "I love you so much, Veronica."

She smiled against his chest, and took a deep breath. "I know, I love you too," she said softly. She felt him inhale deeply and squeeze her a little tighter. He kissed her forehead again and she could feel a smile form on his lips against her skin.

"You know I didn't say that I wanted you to go back because I didn't love you right?" He asked with an edge of concern in his tone.

She nodded her head, "I know. I could tell you were just really worried after what happened at Troy's." She felt him nod his head against her forehead and then kissed her there softly again.

He took a shaky breath again "I just really wanted to have a normal healthy relationship with you and figured the best way was to get out of Neptune. Even if I couldn't leave right away with you, I would have been there as often as I could have and would have moved as soon as my term was over."

She nodded and kissed his chest. "I know, but we can work at it here. We've never really been normal Logan, but that doesn't mean we can't be happy. You said it before, no one writes songs about the ones that come easy."

He laughed slightly, which she was relieved to finally hear, and then kissed her forehead again. "I could do with a little less bloodshed, especially if it involves yours or mine though," he replied in a quiet voice.

"Sounds like a good plan," She replied softly and returned his kiss with another to his chest. She could tell that his heart rate was finally starting to slow down, and his breathing was becoming steadier too. She felt him place one more soft kiss on her forehead before she could feel him drift off to sleep. She wished he'd told her about the nightmares before since she hadn't known how much those times had really bothered him in the past. He'd always seemed so strong and protective of her, that she didn't realize how bad things had haunted him. She knew she had her own nightmares to deal with, but a lot of them had gotten better when he was in them to save her. She couldn't imagine how hard they would be for him if he failed to save her in every one of his. She squeezed him a little tighter and kissed him again on the chest before she finally drifted off to sleep too.


	30. Chapter 30 - Surfs Up

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

_**I wanted to leave a quick note to thank everyone here on FF who's been reading my story and also those of you who have left comments. There are 5 more chapters left after this. I took a little break from writing, but I am working slowly on a second story and will probably start posting chapters once I get this one all completely posted here. Of course since that's a new story and not completed like this one was, I won't be posting new chapters as often. I've replied to a few comments but do appreciate them all! I found it easier to post replies on AO3, so apologize that I haven't been replying to as many here, but I really do appreciate them all!**_

Chapter 30 – Surfs Up

Logan didn't sleep well, but was thankful he didn't wake Veronica up the couple of times that he jolted awake from one of the several nightmares he had. It felt as if his heart was pounding loud enough to wake her up and it would take him a while to fall back asleep. At least knowing she was safely asleep next to him helped put his mind at ease until the next nightmare hit him.

He had been about to fall back sleep even though the sun was already up, when he heard the chirp that the security system made when someone opened his security gate. 'Dick' he thought to himself as he tried to climb out of bed to make it downstairs before he started blaring on the doorbell. Veronica woke up slightly as she felt him crawling out of bed.

"What's wrong," she asked in a drowsy voice.

"Nothing, Dick's just here to surf," he whispered as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You can come down to the beach when you wake up."

She mumbled something that sounded like "have fun," as she rolled over into the pillow and fell asleep again.

Logan hurried down to the door because he knew Dick would impatiently start ringing the door bell if he didn't make it there in time and knew Veronica wouldn't appreciate that. He opened the door just as Dick was reaching for the ringer.

Dick glanced at Logan and immediately noticed the messy hair, sleepless expression and sleep pants.

"Dude, we're surfing, not having a pajama party." He shook his head and laughed at Logan.

"Sorry, I just woke up."

"Obv's dude. Are we surfing or what?"

Logan glanced out toward Dick's truck as he heard a door close expecting to see Mac. Instead, he saw Alexis heading toward the house. Logan turned back to Dick with an annoyed expression. "What's she doing here?" The annoyance was also clear in his tone.

"What's your problem dude?" Dick asked with a confused look on his face. "Lexi always surfs with us. She was at Growlers last night and I invited her to join us."

Alexis reached them as Dick finished and noticed the expression on Logan's face. "Good morning," she said tentatively. "I brought some coffee but wasn't sure what Veronica would like, so I bought two caramel lattes and figured you could have the other one later if she didn't like it."

Logan let out a frustrated sigh and took the coffee holder that she was holding out to him and set it inside on the table next to the door. "I thought you were going to meet Vanessa this morning," he replied in an angry tone.

"Dude!" Dick barked at him. "Most people would say thank you." He was clearly getting annoyed with Logan.

Alexis didn't really react to Dick's comment and instead answered Logan's question. "Vanessa texted me last night and said she was going to be up late watching Tyler's band perform and was going to take a ferry in the afternoon instead. So I thought I'd surf a few hours this morning. Dick said Mac could bring my car over later when she gets up."

She could tell Logan was pissed she was there. "Look if it's a problem, I'll call a cab and go."

"Why are you being such an ass?" Dick interjected angrily. "Maybe you should just go back to bed and Lexi and I are going to go surf. It's the ocean, you don't fucking own it. Come on Lex," he said as he turned and headed back to his truck to get their boards.

Logan sighed and shut the door. He hit his head against the door frame and rested it there a moment before heading back up to the bedroom. He tried to lay down so he wouldn't wake Veronica but she felt him lay down and rolled over and looked sleepily at him.

"I thought you were going surfing with Dick," she rubbed her eyes and tried to focus on his face.

He let out a frustrated sigh and kept staring at the ceiling. "He brought Alexis and I wasn't happy about it, and he indirectly told me to fuck off and they went surfing without me."

"Oh," she replied trying to wake up more to process the situation and scooted closer and rested her head on his chest. Alexis voice rang through her head from their run-in at Hearst, about how there were only a few things she liked to do more than surfing, and she was beginning to think fucking with Logan's life was one of them.

Logan wrapped his arm around her and held her tight. "I'd rather just stay in bed with you anyway."

"I thought Alexis was going to meet Vanessa this morning?" She asked still piecing things together.

He sighed and then told her about the change in their plans.

She angled her body up so she could look at his face better. She noticed he looked really tired like he hadn't slept well and his brow was slightly furrowed. She ran her fingers along his face and across the creases on his forehead. Now Alexis seemed to be driving a wedge between Logan and Dick, and Veronica sure as hell didn't want to let her win at anything.

"Do you have some surf gear I could use?" she asked as she looked at him thoughtfully.

His expression became a little puzzled. "Heather keeps all her gear here, so yeah, there would be a board and wetsuit you could use."

She smiled happily at him, "well let's go surf then." She started to climb off him and he pulled her close again.

"It's okay Veronica, we don't have to go out there." He stared intently at her as he spoke.

Her smile became a bit mischievous, "come on, it could be fun." she gave him a quick kiss and pushed off him.

He rolled on his side and watched her dig through her bag for a bikini. "Let's just go back to sleep," he said in a very unmotivated tone and rolled on his back and put his arm over his face.

"Nope, I'm up now and want to surf. You wouldn't make me go out there all alone would you? " she asked playfully.

She slipped out of her camisole and shorts and into her bikini and then went back over to stand near him by the bed. "Up now," she demanded and grabbed the hand not covering his face and pulled on it.

He sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed and grabbed her and pulled her in between his knees. She finally saw the edges of his lips curl up into a more playful smile. "I'd really rather just stay here with you," he said as he ran his hands up her body from her knees to the back of her neck. When he got to her neck he tugged on the tie of her bikini top and gave her a very mischievous look as it came untied. She quickly grabbed at the ties as he moved quickly to the lower set and untied them.

"Logan!" she shrieked and tried to squirm away. He had his arms around her and pressed his mouth on her neck, and then slowly licked down her neck to her chest. She moaned momentarily and then pushed him back on the bed with a seductive look on her face. He fell back expecting her to join him, but instead she giggled and sprinted to the door holding her top. "Sucker," she playfully called as she bolted out the door.

She waited for him at the top of the stairs and a few minutes later he came out in swim shorts. "Fine, you win." He said with a smirk on his lips.

"Works every time," she said with a wink, then held her hand out for him. He grabbed it and pulled her close for a deep kiss. "Let's go hang ten, dude" she teased in her best surfer imitation.

He shook his head at her and followed her down the stairs. She saw the coffee on the table and raised her eyebrow in question. "Alexis brought us both caramel lattes if you want one." He said as she eyed it skeptically. He smiled at her, "I'm pretty sure she'd go more with piano wire too rather than poison." She smiled and took one of the cups and handed him the other.

They headed out the door toward the building by the pool that housed his workout room as well as his surf gear storage. He found a wet suit that she could use and then grabbed his own. They put them mostly on, then he grabbed two surf boards and they headed out toward the beach. Veronica carried both cups of coffee since he was carrying the boards.

There was a stone pathway that led from the pool area toward the beach. Logan's property had quite a bit of landscaping to keep his house fairly private. There were some places in his house that you could see out to the ocean but most of the area was fairly hidden. As they continued down to the ocean they came to a large gazebo at the edge of his property near where the sand began. It was a beautiful structure that included an outdoor kitchen and dining area. There was plenty of seating and a large fire pit in the center.

"This is gorgeous Logan," Veronica said as she glanced around the space. He rested the boards against a pillar and walked closer to her so he could wrap his arms around her.

"It's not as gorgeous as you," he said lovingly as he stared down at her.

She shook her head at him. "So smooth Romeo," she teased.

He gave her a quick kiss then released her.

She noticed a basket of muffins on the table. "Alexis?" She asked.

"Dick's not really the 'bring muffins' type, so my guess is yes. He walked over and picked up a chocolate one and smiled at her. He broke off a small piece and held it out for her. She smiled slyly and opened her mouth for him to place it inside. As he put it near her mouth, she leaned in farther so she could suck on his fingers too.

"I told you we should have just stayed in bed," he said in a low growl. She smiled mischievously as she released his fingers and swallowed the muffin. He pulled her over to one of the lounge chairs facing the ocean and they sat down to finish sharing the muffin and watch Dick and Alexis out on the waves.

The two of them rode a wave in a few minutes later and walked up to the gazebo. Dick seemed a little unsure of what to expect from Logan given their earlier interaction, so turned his attention to Veronica instead.

"Sweet Ronnie, I didn't know you surfed." he said as he noticed her suit and the two boards.

"I started when I was in Massachusetts, but I may be a little rusty so hopefully I don't wipe out too badly," she answered back with a friendly smile on her face.

"I promise not to tease you if you do," Dick said with a little wink. "Maybe you can convince Speedy to try it again too."

Alexis had walked over to a small fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. "Can I get anyone a water?" she asked with the door still opened. Dick said he'd take one and Logan shook his head.

"Sure I'll take one, thanks." Veronica said, trying to be somewhat friendly.

"We just came up for a quick drink and to say hi," Dick said after taking several gulps of his water. "Ready to go back out Lexi?"

She nodded and set her bottle down and headed back to her board.

"The waves are pretty decent," Dick added as he set down his bottle and grabbed his board. "Are you two going to join us?"

Logan nodded, "yeah be there in a little bit man." Dick smiled and followed Alexis back out to the water.

"If you don't feel comfortable, you don't have to go out," he said with a slightly concerned look on his face.

She scrunched up her expression and laughed, "Like you never wipe out?"

He smiled back and gave her a big kiss. "OK then my little Gidget, shall we?"

"Come on Moondoggie, let's go ride some waves." She smiled playfully at him then jumped up and grabbed her board and headed toward the water. She stopped after a few feet and smiled back until he caught up. She leaned up and gave him another kiss before taking his hand with hers and walking toward the water.

They paddled out and then floated a little ways over from Dick and Alexis. "We're competing over who can do the most tricks on each ride? Wanna play Ronnie?" Dick asked as they all floated in the water on their boards.

Veronica laughed, "I think just making it without crashing will be enough of a trick for me. You should play though Logan," she said giving him a sweet smile.

"Maybe," he said and shrugged. She could tell he was worried about her and he seemed to be a little in edge too. She hoped he would relax after a few runs, so didn't push it.

They were floating close enough that their feet would bump together, so she rubbed her toes up his calf, getting a small smile out of him. Dick said he was going to take the next wave and they watched him, counting six different turns and cutbacks before the wave flattened out near the shore.

"What's the high score so far," Veronica asked Alexis. "I did eight on one run," she said with a quick smile before looking behind her to judge the next wave. "Did one of you want the next one?"

Veronica shook her head and Logan replied, "All yours Alexis."

She briefly looked at both of them before jumping up to catch the wave. She did seven on her run.

"You can go next if you want," Logan said with a tentative smile.

Veronica wasn't sure if he was nervous about her surfing or Alexis being there. She smiled and then nodded and gave him a little wink. The next wave looked good, so she jumped up to catch it. She'd surfed a bit more over the summer than she may have let on when Alexis asked her about it. She'd only said she didn't have time to do it as much as she'd like. When she finally learned how to surf the prior summer it felt like a connection to home somehow. Even though she never really did it in California, whenever she was out surfing she'd get that comforting feeling of home. It would remind her of all the times she'd watch Logan and Duncan surf. It had been over a month since she'd gone so it took her a few minutes to feel comfortable in the board, but then she did a couple cutbacks and quick turns before the wave flattened out.

She glanced back at Logan who finally had a genuine smile on his face again as she leaned against her board on the shore.

"Really nice ride Ronnie," she heard Dick say to her left as she kept her eyes on Logan.

"Yeah Veronica," Alexis added, "You're quite good for not getting to surf very often."

Veronica was still staring out watching as Logan caught the next wave, and said a quick thanks. She counted seven different turns for Logan before the wave flattened out and he rode in toward her then picked up his board and walked the rest of the way up to her. He had a very impressed look on his face as he leaned in and gave her a deep kiss. "Color me impressed Miss Mars," he said as their lips parted and a giant grin flashed across his face.

Dick and Alexis had already started paddling out, leaving them alone on the beach. "I may have undersold my skills must a tiny bit," she said with a coy expression on her face as she raised her hand and held her thumb and first finger an inch apart.

He smiled and shook his head. "Yeah more than a tiny bit. You had me worried earlier with your talk of wiping out you know."

She smiled, "well I do wipeout sometimes, but usually not on waves this size." She gave him a mischievous smile, "ready for more." He leaned in and gave her one more kiss before he picked up his board and followed her back out.

The four of them followed the same pattern for quite a while with Dick always leading out, followed by Alexis, Veronica then Logan. Veronica couldn't help but notice that while Logan had relaxed once he realized he didn't need to worry about her surfing, he was still extremely distant with Alexis. He wasn't being rude, but that warm familiarity that she first observed at the masquerade ball and later in his office was not there at all. Even watching them the night before at the restaurant he seemed more at ease with her than now. While she was certainly fine with it, she couldn't help but wonder what brought on this sudden change. She wondered if it was due to what happened when Dick and Alexis had arrived that morning or due to their talk last night. At least after a few runs Dick seemed to be his normal carefree self and if he was mad at Logan earlier there was no trace of it now. The lack of camaraderie was even more noticeable by Dick calling her Lexi and Logan only calling her Alexis whenever he had talked to her today.

After several runs, Veronica said she was going to take a little break and get some water. Logan joined her as well, while the other two went back out. Logan had taken the lead in their competition with eleven turns on a really nice large slow wave and the other two were still trying to out do him. Veronica was happy to get up to seven on one of hers.

They rested their boards against one of the pillars and Logan went over to a locked cabinet at the edge of the kitchen area and entered a code to unlock it and grabbed two towels for them. Veronica noticed there were blankets and even some snacks stored there too.

"You have quite the impressive setup here," she said as he handed her a towel then went over and grabbed two water bottles.

"Thanks. I had this built a few years ago so we'd have someplace comfortable to hang out while we surfed. I always felt bad when Speedy would come along and just sit on the sand and watch us. Dick's tried to get her to surf a few times, but it's not her thing at all."

Veronica smiled fondly at him. "I'm sure Speedy really appreciated it." She emphasized the nickname which he laughed slightly at.

He nodded in reply, "She actually helped me design it too. There are several others at some of the other places farther up the beach, so we checked out various designs and came up with this. It's great at night for watching the ocean with the fire pit going too."

"Maybe we should try that out tonight then," she said with a suggestive expression on her face.

He returned her look with one of his own and pulled her close to kiss her. After he released her, Veronica grabbed another chocolate muffin and sat on the large lounge chair again. Logan sat next to her and she turned so she could better look at him and he put an arm around her. While he was much more relaxed than earlier, she could tell he still looked tired. She reached up and ran her fingers across his face gently touching him below his eyes.

"Did you not sleep well last night?" She asked softly as she studied his face.

He shrugged and looked down at his lap. She gently turned his face back up to look at her and rubbed his cheek. "What's going on in there?" she asked softly as she put her finger in the middle of his forehead.

He gave her a weak smile then leaned toward her and kissed her briefly. "Just didn't sleep well I guess."

She gave him a sympathetic look. "More nightmares?"

He nodded slowly but held his smile. "It was just a crazy evening. I'm sure it will be better tonight."

She smiled and wrapped her arms around his chest and held him close for a few moments. She leaned back and kissed him, and then turned back out to watch the other two surf.

She turned back after a few minutes and studied him again. "Are you having fun or would you rather I had let you stay inside? You've been a little hard to read this morning."

He gave her a puzzled look. "Yeah, surfing with you is amazing. I didn't expect you to be so into it actually."

"Okay, you just seem a little, I don't know, just not quite yourself."

He shrugged but didn't have a response.

"Is it Alexis being here?"

He let out a small sigh, "Yeah probably. I'm a little annoyed she came since things have been so difficult between the two of you. I keep waiting for her to do something to piss you or me off. "

She squished up her face in a thoughtful look. "Do you think she knew you'd be annoyed that she came? You seemed pretty concerned about her last night when you followed her out of the restaurant. She may not have expected you'd care if she came surfing with how friendly you were last night."

Logan let out a deep sigh, "I hadn't really thought about it like that."

Veronica smiled with an exaggerated sympathetic expression and patted him gently on the cheek. "Poor, poor clueless boy." Her smile became a little more devious, "though I'm not saying you should be nicer, just pointing out the obvious to the oblivious male."

He shook his head and chuckled, "Thank you, oh wise one." She smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss.

"Did you want to go back out to surf again?" she asked as she looked out at the water again.

"If the other option is to lay here holding you and listening to the ocean, then I vote for that." He nuzzled his nose into her neck and placed several wet hot kisses there.

She moaned slightly and melted against his body. "I think I've had enough surfing for today too." She pushed away from him so she could take her wet suit off. He stood and removed his as well and they positioned themselves on the lounge chair again so they could cuddle close together and watch the water.

Veronica noticed he'd become rather still after a while and turned carefully to look at him and realized he was asleep. Shortly after that Mac arrived with a large box filled with breakfast take out for everyone.

She gave Veronica a questioning glance when she noticed he was sleep. Veronica carefully moved away from him without waking him and walked out toward the water with Mac.

Dick waved when he saw Mac, but was still waiting for a better wave to ride in on. "Sorry I didn't get a chance to warn you about Alexis." Mac said as they looked out at the water at the other two. "I didn't know Dick had invited her until I woke up and saw his note. I figured that was way too late to warn you."

Veronica gave her a small smile. "It's okay. She has been polite at least. Mostly just keeping to herself." Veronica quickly filled Mac in with what happened the night before after Mac promised she would feel comfortable not sharing it with Dick. She understood the importance of confidentiality for PI cases, as well as for most of her tech work. When Veronica finished the story, she was also very surprised with how it all turned out.

Dick rode a wave in right as they were finishing up and shook his wet hair at Mac. She smacked him on the chest and gave him an angry look. He apologized and kissed her on the cheek before walking up to the gazebo holding her hand and carrying his board. Veronica saw that Alexis was headed in too and started walking behind the other two. As she stated walking the warning that her surf instructor had hammered into them that they should never surf alone was echoing through her head. She felt a bit guilty about just leaving her out there all alone, so checked over her shoulder a couple times to be sure Alexis made it in safely. Alexis noticed and gave her a small smile when she was at the edge of the beach. Veronica nodded back but didn't smile and quickened her pace to catch up with Dick and Mac.

Logan was still asleep in the lounge chair and Mac kept Dick from messing with him. The table was far enough from where he was sleeping that with the sounds from the ocean they could talk in normal voices and not wake him up.

"Wow Ronnie, you really exhausted him didn't you." Dick gave her a suggestive look to which Mac responsed with an elbow to his side and a scolding look.

Alexis had finished drying off after removing her wet suit. "Thanks for bringing my car over Mac." She said as she picked up her keys from the counter where Mac had put them. She turned to head back up to the house.

"I did get food for you too." Mac said with a puzzled look on her face.

"Thanks, I should get going so I'm not late to meet Vanessa." Alexis said with a polite smile.

"Well at least take it with you," Mac said as she handed one of the boxes for her to take.

"Thanks Mac." She said with a warm smile as she reached for it. "Do you want me to take the board back to your truck, Dick?"

"No I can get it Lexi. Tell Nessa I said hi."

She nodded and started to walk back.

Veronica made a slightly pained face, in the opposite direction from where Alexis was walking, then begrudgingly added, "Thanks for the coffee and muffins."

Alexis turned back and forced a smile, "Sure no problem. I know caramel latte's are Logan's favorite, so I hope you liked it." Then she turned and continued back up to the house.

After she'd been gone for a few minutes Mac laughed. "Well that seemed a little awkward, did I miss more fun this morning?"

Dick shook his head and took another bite of his food. "You missed Logan being an ass when he woke up this morning."

Mac gave Veronica a questioning look to which she shrugged. "Don't look at me, I was asleep and missed it too."

Dick just shook his head and took another bite of his food, apparently not wanting to elaborate on what had happened. "You should have seen Ronnie surf though, she rocked."

Mac gave her one of her smiles that made her dimples really show. "I'll have to be sure to wake up earlier next time to see that then. So what do you and Rip Van Winkle have planned for the rest of the day?"

Veronica laughed softly, "I'm not sure actually."

"Well if you two want to get together later let us know."

Veronica said that she'd call her later once she found out what Logan had planned for the rest of the day. After they finished eating, they packed up their empty boxes and grabbed the surf gear to take back up to Dick's truck, leaving Veronica alone with Logan. She had debated about waking him to eat but he'd looked so tired earlier, she decided they could warm his food up later. She took a seat in the chair next to his and just enjoyed the view while she waited for him to wake up.


	31. Chapter 31 - Sentimental

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 31 - Sentimental

Veronica had been alternating between watching Logan sleep and watching the ocean. The beach was only accessible to the people who lived in the gated community and the houses were relatively far apart, so there weren't many people using it, but she saw a few people out for a morning walk or run.

She was lost in thoughts of the case again and needing to see Casey to give him an update, when an outburst from Logan completely startled her. She jolted, and then turned to look at him and realized he was still asleep and must have been having a nightmare. It had sounded like a combination of a scream and an anguished 'no'. She went over and sat next to him again and soothingly rubbed his arm.

"Veronica?" He said in a panicked voice as woke up and seemed to still be confused about what he was dreaming versus reality. She saw the scared expression on his face, which subsided as he saw her and realized he'd just been dreaming.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight as he took a deep breath. She could feel his heart pounding rapidly in his chest.

"Bad dream?" She asked and he released her and nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head and smiled lovingly at her to try to hide any distress, as he brushed her still slightly damp hair away from her face. "No, it was just a bad dream." He looked out at the water and gave her a puzzled look. "Where did Dick and Alexis go?"

"You were asleep for a little over an hour. Alexis left when Mac came with breakfast and Dick and Mac left after they finished eating." She watched his expression change from puzzled to predatory.

"So we're all alone?" His eyes started to darken as he gazed over her body starting down at her toes and ending at her lips. She licked her lips as she took in the change in his mood.

"Well..." She said in an unsteady voice, "several of your neighbors have been passing by..."

"Mmmmm... " his eyes had moved back down to her neck, "maybe we should head back to the house then." He placed his mouth on her neck and sucked on her skin, tasting the salt from the ocean water.

She moaned lightly. "Mac did bring you food..." Her voice was becoming a bit breathless the more he moved his mouth over her neck and shoulder.

"Mmmm... Veronica now... Food later," he said in a low growl.

She smiled seductively and stood up holding her hand out for him. He climbed up off the chair and wrapped his arms around her, taking a deep breath and then bent down to suck lightly on the other side of her neck.

After a few moments he reached down and scooped her up with one of his arms under her legs and the other around her torso. He kissed her deeply as he started to carry her back up toward the house. At the end of the path there was an outdoor shower, located near the pool and the beach path. He carried her there and turned on the water. His hands quickly moved to untying her top and pushing down her bikini bottoms. She wasted no time in pushing down his shorts as well. They started in the middle of the shower under the spray, but after a few minutes he had her pushed against the granite wall and had lifted her so their bodies fit together better and he could more easily place deep kisses on her mouth, neck and shoulders while he slid inside of her.

"God Veronica..." he moaned as he moved steadily with her against the wall, "you feel so good..."

She smiled against his lips and bit at his lower one when he smiled back. He changed his rhythm slightly causing her to tip her head back, practically smacking it on the granite wall. He'd had one hand under her thigh and the other sliding up her back and caught her head just in time. He felt her muscles tighten as she let out a deep groan. He smiled wickedly at her and kissed her deeply. He gave her a few seconds to recover, before turning the water off with one hand and still holding her with his other. After the water was off, he carried her into the covered seating area and fell backwards onto a large lounge chair, keeping her on top of him so she wouldn't be crushed. She was still catching her breath but her lips curled up seductively as she adjusted to their new position with a renewed determination to make him feel as good as she had felt in the shower.

He glanced toward the house for a moment then back at her with a questioning expression. "It's not too late for me to run in and..." She shook her head and kissed him deeply.

"I want you Logan..." she whispered in a sultry voice in his ear, "I want to feel just you..." She heard him moan as she rocked faster against him. His fingers dug into her hips as he closed his eyes and moaned again. She moved faster and turned to watch his face for a moment, then moved back so her lips were just grazing the edge of his ear, "you make me feel so alive... so safe... so happy... so loved..." She could feel him getting closer. She lowered her voice a little more, "I really do love you Logan." She could tell he'd been trying to hold on as long as he could, but she knew how to make that difficult and he finally gave in and she moaned deeply, enjoying it as much as he had.

He opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling while he tried to catch his breath. She slid off him and rolled onto her back too. He rolled over so he could wrap part of his body over hers, not wanting to give up the closeness yet. He smiled at her and looked lovingly into her eyes while he played with some strands of her hair.

"You know someday I hope to actually see you when you tell me you love me so I know it's real and not just my imagination."

Her lips curled into a shy smile and she leaned toward him for a quick kiss. She stared intently at him for a few seconds still smiling shyly then in a soft voice said, "I love you."

She felt him take a deep breath and his smile became bigger. "I love you too." He gave her a deeper kiss. "I love you so very much."

She nodded and smiled happily at him. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair and along his face. "You look a little less tired, but I think you could still use more sleep."

"It's exhausting taking care of a Bobcat, but I'd gladly make that sacrifice any day." He smiled and kissed her again.

"I was thinking I might see if Casey is free for lunch so I can give him an update on Debbie."

Logan's expression became a little more serious with the reminder of the prior night, but he quickly tried to recover before she really noticed. "You could invite him here and we could have some food delivered."

"If you don't mind that would be great." She gave him a thankful smile and a quick peck on the cheek.

"So your Dad and Alicia come back tomorrow right?"

Her look became a bit concerned and she nodded.

"What's that look about?"

"I don't know. I guess I just need to figure out what I'm going to do soon."

He looked a little puzzled, "I thought you'd decided already."

She shrugged, "Yeah I guess. I'd better go in and call Casey before it's too late to have him come for lunch. Oh, do you think Leo would be at the office today? I was thinking I'd take the case file back and see him today too."

Logan noticed her avoidance but decided to let it go for now. "I can check with him when I get back in the house."

She had already scooted out from under him so she could go inside to make the call to Casey. He laid there for a moment watching her start to leave. "Now that's a view I would never get tired of watching," he said playfully as she headed back to the shower to retrieve her bikini. She gave him a sly smile over her shoulder, then picked up the two pieces and walked with them in her hand back to the house. She thought about how thankful she was that his backyard was completely private as she put on her best show of confidence, walking naked back into the house.

Once she was gone Logan rolled off the lounge chair and recovered his shorts. He slipped them back on and headed back to the beach to retrieve all their surfing stuff and lock things back up. He felt a little more relaxed than earlier, but really hoped the nightmares would stop soon. He didn't want Veronica to feel guilty about it, so he didn't want to elaborate on what they were. No matter the specific details, they always ended with her dead in his arms since he was always just moments too late to save her from whatever the danger had been.

On his way back up from the beach, he started wondering what was driving her current uncertainty about what she planned to do. He thought she'd made up her mind to stay. He wanted her to stay more than anything and thought it seemed like they were doing pretty well together.

When he returned to the house he heard the shower upstairs just turning off. He went into his office and opened a closet door and searched around for a box that he remembered Heather putting bows and ribbons in at Christmas. He found the biggest bow then went to his desk with a mischievous smile and grabbed one of his extra house keys to stick on the bottom of the bow. He headed toward the stairs and saw his phone still on the table at the base of the stairs and so he sent Leo a quick text to find out if he'd be at the station later then headed upstairs. Leo replied back that he should be in the office until 6. He put the phone in his pocket and the bow behind his back.

Veronica flashed a smile at him as he entered the room. "Casey should be here in about an hour for lunch. Thanks again for letting us meet here." He smiled and nodded. She noticed the slightly mischievous smile. "What's up?" She asked giving him a suspicious look.

"I have a gift for you." he said as he moved closer.

"Logan, I said you don't have to keep getting me things. Well unless it's a pony." She gave him a wink and smiled.

He moved his hand with the bow out from behind his back, causing her to laugh immediately. "You got me a bow? A bow? How did you guess?" Her tone was identical to when he gave her his key card in college.

She smiled knowingly and took the bow and turned it over, "Logan..." She started to say with a cautious look on her face.

He interjected before she could say more. "I thought if you're staying in Neptune it would be easier for you to drop by if you had your own key." He paused a moment and looked down at the floor before back up with a less confident look on his face, "And if you need a place to live, you're welcome to move in here... If you don't want to that's fine too, but I wanted to be sure you knew you that you could, if you wanted to."

She smiled shyly and took a deep breath. "I'll think about it, okay?" She said watching him carefully for his reaction. He smiled and nodded and headed toward the bathroom.

"I've been told I make a horrible roommate, so you may regret it if I did," she replied playfully as he was walking off.

He turned for a moment and smiled softly at her. "I seriously doubt that," then he continued into the bathroom and turned the shower on.

She looked thoughtfully at the key and took the bow off. She set both on the dresser as she finished getting dressed. Logan came out to get clothes as she was finishing. He noticed the bow and the key on the dresser but didn't say anything.

"There's a bunch of takeout menus in the top left drawer in my desk if you want to find something to order for us." He stopped and have her a quick kiss as he passed her on his way to his walk-in closet.

She bit on her lip and watched him. "You know if I moved in I'd eventually snoop through all your stuff." He came back out of the closet pulling a T-shirt over his head with his jeans still unzipped.

"That's pretty much a given isn't it?" He smiled at her and sat on the edge of the bed. "Feel free to snoop away." He waved his hand in front of him in a welcoming gesture.

She gave him a curious look. "So there's nothing here you don't want me to find?"

He shrugged. "I'll warn you that there's a box of stuff from when I lived with Alexis that I packed up and threw in the back of one of the guest room closets. I think it's the one on the east side of the hallway. Mostly just albums and pictures of us that she left behind."

She gave him a contemplative look and he just shrugged again. "There's a box with stuff you left too..." Her eyes opened wider at that. He gave her a half smile and another shrug. "You'd better order food soon if you want it here before Casey arrives." He stood up and started to zip up and button his jeans.

He walked back into the bathroom and stared into the mirror running his hands over the scruff starting to already grow on his chin. "Do you think I should grow out my facial hair out again?"

"No," came her very quick reply, "and what do you mean a box with my stuff?"

"Don't you need to order lunch?" He asked as he opened a cabinet to find his razor and shaving gel. "Some places can take awhile to get over here."

She walked into the bathroom and leaned against the counter watching him. Her expression was obviously starting to get slightly annoyed at him.

"There's a great Thai place that's usually pretty quick with their deliveries." He said, ignoring her glare and rubbing the shaving gel on his face. "Maybe I should just leave the moustache to grow out again."

"No."

"No on the moustache or Thai?" he turned to look at her with an innocently confused expression.

She sighed, "No on the moustache."

"Okay fine." He started shaving his face. He could see that she was still glaring at him in the mirror. "If you're not in the mood for Thai, there's a Chinese food place that is usually pretty quick too, but it is Saturday and getting close to lunch time, so you'd better decide soon. I haven't gone shopping this week, so I don't think our selection of food would be terribly great at the moment."

"You didn't answer my question." She finally said as he finished up shaving and fixing his hair.

"I know." He walked past her and gave her a quick kiss on the nose and headed down the stairs.

She growled a bit and followed him. He went into the office and opened the drawer with the menus. He pulled out a stack and spread them on the desk. "Want me to order for us?"

"Why did you mention it and now you don't want to talk about it?"

"It's just a box of stuff Veronica, I'm sure when you get around to snooping you'll find it."

"It's almost like you're taunting me to snoop around."

He laughed and picked up the menu for the Thai food place. "I've never really known you to need taunting for that natural instinct to kick in." He smiled playfully and picked up his phone to dial the restaurant.

"Don't forget the Chicken Satay." She reminded him. He rolled his eyes at her clearly insinuating he would never forget that. He ordered quite a few different items, and gave them his address.

"So you never kept anything from when we dated?" He asked curiously as he disconnected the call. Her expression changed from annoyed to sheepish.

"Maybe." She picked up a stapler from his desk and started fidgeting with it.

"How do you 'maybe' keep things?" he asked and gave her a puzzled look.

She sighed and put the stapler down, "I used to have a box with some things, but I left it at my Dad's apartment when I left Neptune. I didn't come back when he moved in with Alicia and he packed up all the stuff I left behind. I didn't make it back for a while, and when I finally did come back to go through things to take back to Massachusetts with me, I didn't find it in any of the boxes."

"You looked for it though?" He asked a bit surprised.

She looked up at him with an almost shy expression on her face. "Yes," she said softly.

"Did you ask your dad about it?" He asked curiously.

She shrugged and then answered in a regretful tone, "No, I didn't."

He smiled and kissed her on the forehead and walked over to the closet that he'd gotten the bow out of earlier. He reached up to the very top shelf and pulled down a box and put it on the desk. There weren't any labels on the box, and it was about the size of a box that boots would come in. She raised her eyebrows in a questioning look before opening it, to which he smiled and nodded.

She took the lid off and was surprised by what she saw inside. "I helped your dad move to Alicia's. He said it was okay for me to take it and that he'd let you know I had it if you asked about it." He saw her tear up a little as she reached down and picked up her box of their things, running her hands over the top. He gave her a gentle smile and ran his hand across her hair before leaning in and kissing her softly on the forehead.

She set it down on the desk and looked at the other contents of the larger box. She picked up a framed picture that she remembered him having at his house when they were much younger with all four of them. "I thought this would have been destroyed when your house burned down?" she asked as she picked it up and looked at it.

He shook his head. "I was pretty mad after Aaron was arrested, and I'd taken all the pictures with Lilly out of my room and threw them in a bag that ended up in the X-terra. I'd planned to eventually do something with them, but never got around to it before the fire." She gave him a sad look and ran her hand soothingly up the side of his arm. She set the picture down and looked in the box again.

She smiled when she saw the t-shirt Heather had worn in the elevator. "I thought Heather took this?" She asked holding it up.

Logan smiled, "She did borrow it, but gave it back later."

There was also a packet of pictures and she started looking through them. The pictures were from a weekend trip they'd taken together when her dad was out of town on a case, and they'd gone up to LA for a concert. It was from the summer before they started classes at Hearst. "I never actually saw these." She said as she kept flipping through them. She'd bought a disposable camera in the hotel lobby and they'd used it during the weekend. "I thought we lost the camera before we came back."

He nodded and smiled, "I guess that's the benefit of being a semi-celebrity in Southern California." He picked up one of the pictures that they'd taken at one of the beaches they'd visited. "Someone found the camera and got the pictures developed out of curiosity. They recognized me from all the news stories regarding the great Echolls' saga. They found out I was staying at the Neptune Grand and had them delivered there. It was after you'd gone to Virginia."

"Thank goodness I didn't let you talk me into those naked shots!" Veronica said with a slight gasp.

"Yeah, digital is a much better way to go for those." He replied with a leering smile.

She shook her head and kept looking through the box. There were a couple CDs she'd left at the Grand and even a couple of her hair clips. There were other pictures that she remembered taking and giving him copies of. There was a folded piece of paper that had been put in on the side and she pulled it out. It was the program they had handed out at her Law School Graduation. She smiled fondly at it and set it back in the box. She put her box in as well before putting the lid back on.

"You really are sentimental, aren't you?" she asked with an adoring smile and wrapped her arms around his neck. He smiled back and nodded and gave her a deep kiss.

"You didn't want your box back?" He asked after the kiss.

She smiled and gave him another quick kiss. "I know it's safe here." He picked up the box to put it back in the closet. "Can you put it on a lower shelf if I want to look through it again later?" He smiled back and nodded and put it on one of the other shelves.

He closed the closet door and walked back over to her, "Hey, what do you think of having a BBQ here tomorrow evening after your Dad and Alicia get back. I'm sure they'd love to see everyone and would probably appreciate not having something at their own house."

She smiled and kissed his cheek, "That's a really wonderful idea. I'll send my dad a text and if they agree, then I'll get a hold of Wallace and Darryl too. Maybe Mac and Dick would want to come too."

The food was delivered a short while later, and they got out plates and set up the food to eat. Casey arrived as they were finishing up getting everything ready. Veronica was making some lemonade when the bell rang, so Logan went to answer the door.

"Hey Logan," Casey said as he opened the door, "Nice to see you again. You've got a really impressive place here."

"Thanks man," Logan said as he closed the door and led him into the dining room.

"Hi Veronica," Casey said as he gave her a quick hug.

"So, I have some good news, but there's a bit of a complication too." Veronica started to explain as they all sat down and started to eat.

"I've found out some information, but it can't be shared outside the three of us, or several people's lives would be at risk." Casey nodded in understanding though his expression became very concerned at the severity of the situation. "The good news is that Debbie is actually still alive." Casey expression changed to one of disbelief. Veronica went on to share the details of what they found out from talking to Troy.

"Wow," Casey said when she was done, "I'm so happy that she's alive. I knew the story just didn't make sense. I've also heard plenty about Liam's reputation, so I can understand the severity of the situation." They talked a while about what would happen if she ended up going into witness protection and whether there was anything Casey could do to help. Casey was so grateful for Veronica believing him and solving the case. He made her promise to send him an invoice from Mars Investigation with the charges for working on it so he could pay her.

After he left, Veronica caught Logan yawning on the couch. "Hey why don't you take a nap, and I'll run over to see Leo."

He shook his head, "I can come with you."

"I'll be fine Logan. I'm going to the Sheriff's Department. The only bad guys there will be in jail." She leaned in and gave him a kiss. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close. "You should stay here and take a nap and get all rested up. Then maybe tonight we could go to Growlers with Mac and Dick. They asked if we wanted to do something with them later, and since we didn't make it to Growlers last night, I thought we could go tonight instead."

Logan reluctantly agreed and she headed to the Sheriff's Office to return Debbie's case file to Leo. When she walked into the office, Leo happened to be standing out at the front counter talking with one of his deputies.

"Veronica," he said with a tentative smile on his face. He gestured toward his office and she walked in, followed by him. He closed the door as she took a seat in one of the chairs by his desk. He walked over and leaned on the desk in front of her.

He gave her a bashful smile. "So I wanted to apologize for keeping the truth of the case from you, but I hope you understand."

She smiled, putting him at ease, "Of course Leo. I understand. No hard feelings. I've done enough things over the years that I wasn't always proud of too." She handed him the case file and he put it on his desk.

Leo smiled back at her knowingly. "So how much longer are you going to be in Neptune before you go back to Massachusetts?"

She gave him a small smile, "Actually I think I'm staying. I've talked with Roger Butler and I'm thinking about working for him in the DA's office."

He nodded and looked thoughtfully at her. "Is your PI license still valid?"

She laughed, "Why? Are you going to fine me for working for Casey without a valid license?"

He chuckled at her, the same deep laugh that she remembered from all those years ago. "No, but I know you're a really good investigator, and if you were interested I might have a job opportunity for you." A curious expression crossed her face. "The Sheriff's department sometimes hires your dad as an external consultant to work on special cases, but I've been thinking about making it more of a permanent position, but I know your dad didn't want to do it full time. If you're interested, I'd love to have you be part of my team. But I understand if you'd rather work for Roger too." He grimaced for a moment before he continued. "There's sort of a complication though too, well it could be a complication." She gave him a questioning look. "I have to get the Mayor to approve the position as part of the city budget."

Veronica sighed, "I see why that could be a complication." Leo smiled knowingly back at her.

Leo looked slightly concerned as he continued. "Yeah, I was worried that Logan wouldn't be thrilled about you working on cases for the Sheriff's Department. But I also know what a good investigator you are. I know Troy filled you in on what we've been working on, and there are other cases that I'd love your help with too. At least take a little time to think about and talk it over with Logan, then let me know if you're interested."

She laughed slightly, "Won't that be a little bit of a conflict of interest if Logan has to approve me being hired?"

Leo laughed as well, "Come on, Veronica. This is still Neptune. I think that would be one of the least concerning acts of corruption going on around here." He gave her the same shy smile he always used to give her. "And you know how it goes, that long and proud history of mutual back scratching between cops and private dicks. It would be a lot easier if you were officially part of my team."

"I'll definitely think about it Leo." Veronica gave him a warm smile. They chatted a little bit longer about some of the cases he'd closed recently and she told him about a few of the cases she'd worked on in Massachusetts. When she left, she told him she'd get back to him in a couple days to let him know what her decision was, but that it was a very tempting offer.

She left his office and was headed back out the front door of the building, when she practically ran into a man walking in.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here," Veronica's felt a shiver spread through her body as she looked into the dark eyes of Liam Fitzpatrick. "Veronica Mars." He said her name slowly in a sing-song tone. "Looks like you've gone and grown up nicely," he said with a leering smile as his eyes trailed up and down her body. "You should drop in and visit me at the River Styx for old time's sake." He gave her a suggestive wink, "We never did get to finish our last dance."

Veronica stepped quickly away from him, but kept a cold glare on her face. "Go ahead and hold your breath waiting for that to happen."

Liam laughed deeply, "Nice to see you back in Neptune. I'm sure I'll be seeing you around." He gave her another suggestive look, then turned and headed into the Sheriff's Office.

Veronica let out a shaky breath and quickly headed back to her car and drove back to Logan's. She realized she was wrong about the only criminals she'd run into already being in jail. She had been very interested in Leo's offer, but knew it was going to be extremely tough to convince Logan. And of course any mention of the Fitzpatrick's would only make it worse. She spent her drive back to his house weighing the pros and cons of working for Leo versus working for Roger. She looked down at her keys as she drove and gently reached over and rubbed Logan's house key between her fingers. One more thing she needed to weigh the pros and cons about.


	32. Chapter 32 - The Vortex

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 32 – The Vortex

Veronica parked Logan's car that he'd insisted she use to go to the Sheriff's office in front of the house and climbed out. She fidgeted with the house key he'd given her as she walked up to the front door. She watched the sun reflect off of it, and took a deep breath and put it in the door to unlock it. She wasn't sure why letting her self into his house was having such a strange effect on her. The house was completely silent as she went in, so she put the car key fob back where he kept the fobs to both cars and headed up the stairs.

Logan was lying on his back still asleep. He'd stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed before she left. She recalled him trying to coax her into joining him then, but she'd been adamant that he needed to get some more sleep and that she was going to go and see Leo. The sheet was pulled down slightly below his hips, and she stood there admiring his toned chest and abs as he slept peacefully. She could see his chest rising and falling with each breath. She'd stopped by her Dad's office to email the invoice to Casey for the job and answered a few messages, and so in total had been gone about two hours.

She knew it was completely devious and that she likely wouldn't get away with it, but if she had any chance of getting him to even consider accepting her desire to take Leo up on the job offer she thought her best chance was to be sure he was in a really good mood when she brought it up. She watched him sleep for a few more minutes, then stripped down to her bra and thong and climbed gently into bed next to him. She saw the corners of his mouth turn up slightly as her weight caused the bed to move slightly. She rested her head on her arm on the pillow next to him and laid on her side just watching him at first. His smile grew a little more and he slowly opened his eyes for a moment to look at her. A moment later he rolled over to wrap his arms around her and pulled her toward him.

She could tell his breathing was speeding up as one of his hands landed on her outer thigh and ran up the length of her body, ending near her cheek. He leaned in and kissed her deeply. She started rubbing her hands along his chest, and then around to his back and shoulders, pressing herself closer to him as she did. His mouth moved away from her lips and started moving down her neck to her collar bone. She was running her fingers gently through his hair with her one hand as the other one was rubbing various patterns across his very warm skin.

"Missed you," he mumbled softly between kisses. "Did you have a good visit with Leo?"

"Uh huh," she replied a little breathlessly. "I wanted to talk to you about that." She knew it was playing a little dirty to bring it up now, but she did it anyway, even though she seriously doubted he'd let her get away with it. She reached down and caressed him through his silk boxers. She smiled at him as he moaned and looked at her lovingly, his breathing quickening even more. "He mentioned wanting to hire me to work for the Sheriff's department." She said it as matter-a-factly as she could, while keeping the loving smile on her face, her hand still gently rubbing him through the silky fabric. It of course only took two seconds for what she said to register with him and his body went completely still.

"Why would the Sheriff's Department need a lawyer?" He asked quietly at first, but then he put it all together. "Veronica," his tone changed from sleepy and mumbly to awake and annoyed. "What did Leo say?"

She leaned up to kiss him again and he turned his head, figuring out what she was up to now. His body followed next, rolling off of her and on to his back again. She rolled with him and placed a few kisses on his chest and shoulder. He grabbed her hand that had been stroking him, and pulled it up to his chest.

"I'm waiting," he said tersely as he stared up at the ceiling for a moment. He turned his gaze at her and stared intently at her with his dark brown eyes.

"We don't have to talk about it now," Veronica said, regretting that she'd tried this approach in the first place. Though she couldn't imagine any approach was going to go over very well. "How about we do something that requires less talking for now?" She leaned up to kiss him again and was thwarted as he turned his head away from her. Since his new position better exposed his neck and his ear, she bit lightly on his earlobe, and then ran her tongue down his neck, closing her mouth over his pulse point and sucking lightly there. She felt a low groan tremble through his body.

Logan let out a deep breath, and turned back to face her. He ran his hand up to her face and then ran it through her hair staring intently at her again. He leaned in and kissed her deeply, then tipped his head so their foreheads where touching. She was a bit breathless from the kiss and smiled lustfully at him. His voice took on a seductive tone again, "Sorry, my dear, but until you tell me what he said, that's all you're getting from me." She let out a little sigh, and her smile faltered a bit.

She rolled on to her back and stared at the ceiling for a moment before turning back to look at him. He'd rolled onto his side and was resting his head on his arm that was bent on the pillow, watching her carefully. She smiled apologetically before she spoke. "He said he'd like to hire me as a consultant to help with cases." Logan's jaw tightened and whatever small smile had been there before was completely gone. She took a deep breath, "Logan I think I'd really like to do it. Being a lawyer is okay, but I was getting so tired of having to work on cases where I knew the defendant was innocent, but the DA's office has a job to do and that didn't always matter." She looked at him pleadingly, hoping he'd understand. "If I worked with Leo it would be to help solve crimes, and it would be something I think I'd enjoy more."

Logan took a deep breath and rolled on to his back and closed his eyes tightly. All that he could think of were the nightmares he'd had the previous night and earlier at the beach. He knew they weren't real, but they still filled him with so much fear for her safety. He sat up and rubbed his head for a moment. She could see his shoulders tightening up and she sat up as well to run her hand along them. Logan wasn't exactly surprised at what Leo had offered, but he had hoped that he wouldn't. They'd talked a few times about Leo wanting to bring in a permanent consultant, but working with Leo would put her in much closer contact to criminals than working for Roger. He flashed back to the expression he saw cross her face when Troy had filled her in on his case. He knew she'd try to go after Liam if she had the chance. Even though he knew he shouldn't get upset, between the nightmares and her reaction at Troy's, Logan could feel the stress and frustration course through his body and he really didn't want to say something he'd regret later. He took another deep breath, trying to control his reaction.

He turned and looked intently at her again. "You're right, we don't need to talk about this right now." Her expression changed to a puzzled look. He stood up from the bed and grabbed his t-shirt from the floor and a pair of shorts that were thrown on a chair. "I really don't want to start a fight about this, and just need a little time to think about it." Her puzzled expression started to change to concern. He had pulled the shirt over his head and was stepping into the shorts before she could even reply.

"Logan?" she finally asked in a soft voice.

He turned quickly and gave her an uncertain smile, "I'm just going out for a little bit, and then I'll come back and we can talk. I'm sorry, I just need to…" he didn't finish whatever he was going to say, but did lean down and gave her a quick kiss. She gave him one last concerned look, and he turned and headed out of the room. She sat there for a moment trying to decide what to do, and heard the front door open and close, and then heard his car drive out the driveway. She fell back on the bed and let out a frustrated sigh.

She laid there for a few minutes, then got up and put her clothes back on and went down stairs. She thought about calling him, but decided to give him some time before she did that. She went to the kitchen and pulled out some juice and flopped down on the couch. She'd grabbed her phone from her purse and fidgeted with it as she sat their waiting. After about 5 minutes, she heard a phone ring in the office. She'd forgotten that she insisted he not have his phone in the bedroom when he was trying to nap so it wouldn't wake him up if anyone called and she'd taken it down to the office when she left. She wandered in and picked it up. He surprisingly didn't have a lock on it, and she saw it was a missed call from Alexis. "Wonderful," she mumbled to herself. She sat the phone back down and went to the closet in the office and pulled out their box again. She opened her box this time and flipped through some of the photos she'd kept in it. There were a couple sweet little notes he'd written to her too. She read through those and then heard his phone ring again. She looked at it again, and saw it was Alexis again. "Wow, she's persistent today." She mumbled as she set the phone back down and went back to the box again. She was looking through the pictures in the packet from the lost camera when it rang a third time. She was more than annoyed now, so just answered it.

"This is Veronica." She said before Alexis could even speak.

"Oh," Alexis said in a surprised voice, "Is Logan there?"

"No, sorry, he's not here, but he forgot to take his phone. I'm sure he'll see your missed calls when he gets back." Veronica was trying not to sound annoyed, but failing at it.

"Do you know when he'll be back?" Alexis asked next.

"No." Veronica replied briefly.

"Do you know where he went?" Alexis was nothing if not persistent. Veronica could sense there was something wrong by her tone though, or at least she was trying to sound like that. She wouldn't really put anything past her at this point.

"Sorry, no, he didn't say." She closed her eyes and shook her head at herself. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know…" Alexis replied in a quiet voice. "I… never mind, I'll just wait and talk to him later."

Veronica remembered she was supposed to be with Vanessa. "Is everything okay with Vanessa?"

Alexis sighed, "I don't know, that's what I wanted to talk to him about."

Veronica shook her head again. If she couldn't work on solving her own problem, maybe she could help with Vanessa instead. "What do you think might be wrong?"

Alexis hesitated then spoke. "I noticed a bruise on her arm that looks like a hand print. When I asked her about it, she said it happened last night at the bar when some drunk guy randomly grabbed her and not to worry about it. But I don't know if I believe her." She paused for a few seconds. "Logan's the only one since…" she trailed off, "I just thought she might be honest with him if he talked to her to find out if it was Tyler."

Veronica knew Alexis was about to say Jackson, when she trailed off. "I'm sure he'll want to talk to her when he's back. Is she staying in LA tonight or headed back to Catalina?"

"I think I've convinced her to stay the night. I'm not sure if we're staying here in LA or going back to my place in Neptune though."

"If Tyler is hurting her, the longer you can stall her from going back, the better I think. Maybe a little bit of time away will help her get some perspective and open up more."

Alexis hesitated again, "Thanks Veronica… I know it's none of my business, but was Logan mad when he left without his phone."

Veronica made an angry face but controlled her tone so Alexis couldn't tell she was lying, although he may not have actually been mad either. "No, why?"

"I thought he may have gone to The Vortex if he was looking to blow off some steam. I'm sorry for bothering you. Thanks for listening." And with that she disconnected the call.

Veronica sighed and looked at Logan's phone. She had no idea what 'The Vortex' was, so googled it on her phone. It was a boxing gym in East Neptune. She debated about staying at the house waiting for him to come back, or driving over to see if he was at the gym. She decided sitting around here waiting for him was starting to make her a little crazy, and a drive wouldn't be such a bad thing. She also wanted to know if Alexis was actually right about where he'd gone. She left a note for him and headed out to her dad's car that was still at Logan's house.

When she pulled up to The Vortex, she easily spotted Logan's car in the parking lot. She sat there for a few minutes debating whether to go in, or just go back to the house. She finally got out and wandered into the gym. There were a couple of different boxing rings inside, as well as work out and punching bag areas. She noticed two shirtless guys in one ring with head gear on and one matched Logan's build, wearing shorts that looked like the pair he'd left in. She tentatively walked toward them. She could tell as she got closer that it was Logan. He was getting some pretty good shots in, but he was taking a few him self too. The other guy was mostly landing body shots, and not many at his head at least. Logan's back was toward her when she'd walked in, but at one point he'd turned and locked eyes with her, distracting him for a moment, and allowing the other guy to get a good shot at him. Logan swung back with a couple of his own, and then said he was done. They shook hands and Logan hopped out of the ring and walked toward her. He was taking off the head gear and mouth guard as he walked. He smiled a bit sheepishly at her, definitely surprised to see her, but clearly not mad.

"Nice fight," she said with a shy smile on her face.

"Thanks," he looked at her with a puzzled expression, "How'd you know I was here?"

Veronica sighed and took his phone out of her pocket. "Alexis called several times trying to reach you."

He sighed and the small smile that had been on his face was completely gone. He shook his head and walked over to the side of gym that was just empty space. He leaned his back against the wall and tipped his head back, slightly hitting it on the wall, then shook it in frustration. "I'm sorry." His tone was clearly very frustrated. "I shouldn't be surprised that she's acting like this, but I'll take care of it."

"She's just worried about Vanessa." Veronica replied in a sympathetic tone.

His expression changed to one of alarm, "Did something happen?"

Veronica shrugged her shoulders and then told him about the bruises. Logan's expression became skeptical and he sighed. "I don't know whether to believe Alexis, or if this is just another way of her trying to keep me involved in her life." He looked pleadingly at Veronica, "What should I do?"

Veronica could tell that he really was conflicted over what to do, but that he was definitely worried about Vanessa. Of course Veronica really liked Vanessa too and wanted to make sure she was safe. She was probably going to regret later what she was about to say, but she'd feel even worse if something was going on with Vanessa and they didn't try to help.

"Do you think you could tell if she's lying and if Tyler has hurt her if you talk to her?" she asked studying Logan's reaction.

He shrugged slightly, "Probably, though as you know, people in abusive relationships develop ways to hide the truth. But I think she trusts me enough to open up and I might be able to tell if she is lying."

Veronica nodded in understanding, "What if you call Vanessa to see how it went telling her parents, and then you could invite her to come down and have dinner with us tonight before she heads back to Catalina."

Logan looked at her with a bit of confusion on his face, "But Alexis would probably come along since she's her ride."

Veronica shrugged and smiled grimly, "We already spent our morning with her, so we can get through dinner as well if needed. Just promise me we can make tomorrow a completely Alexis free day." She gave him a reassuring smile to be sure he knew she was okay with the plan. "And then you're also not calling Alexis directly, you're just checking up on Vanessa."

He gave her a completely loving look and smiled at her. "You never cease to amaze me with your brilliance."

She smiled back and gave him a little wink, "Just remember this the next time I ask you for a favor." She was still holding his phone and reached out to hand it to him.

He took it and leaned forward to give her a quick kiss on the lips. She let him kiss her for a second then pushed him back. "Too sweaty!" He laughed and shook his head.

He walked over and grabbed a towel and wiped his head off with it, then called Vanessa.

"Hey Kiddo," He said in a friendly voice, "I wanted to see how things went today with your parents."

"Better than I expected," Vanessa replied back. "I didn't get a chance to thank you for smoothing things over with Lexi. I'm really glad she came with me to tell them. She's being super supportive."

"I'm glad to hear that. Hey, Veronica and I wondered if you wanted to come down to Neptune and have dinner with us before you head back to Catalina. If you need a place to crash, I'm sure you could stay over and I can take you back to the ferry in the morning." He quickly glanced at Veronica to be sure his last minute improvisation was okay with her. She smiled and nodded knowing what he was asking with his expression.

"That would be great!" Vanessa answered, then paused a moment. "What about Lexi though?"

Logan made a slightly frustrated face, but his tone didn't reflect it, "If she wants to join us, that's fine. If not, she could drop you off at my place or we could pick you up at hers, whatever works better for you two."

"Okay, let me talk to her and I'll call or text you later." Her tone sounded happier than when she'd first answered, "Thanks for asking Logan. I'd love to see you and Veronica again."

"No problem Kiddo. We'd love to see you again too. See you soon."

"Bye Logan."

Veronica smiled at him as he finished the call. "Nice job there." She looked down at her feet and then back up at him, "Hey, I'm sorry I drove over here. I feel like I'm being a bit of an overly obsessive girlfriend right now."

He smiled happily back at her, "It's fine. I was going to call you when I got here, but then I realized I forgot my phone. I just wanted to blow off a little steam before we talked about Leo's offer."

"Were you mad at me about it?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"No, of course not." He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Were you mad at Leo for asking?" She asked next.

His smile became a bit of a smirk, "Maybe a little." He tipped his head down and looked up at her with a slightly embarrassed look.

"So you took out your frustration on some poor guy in the ring instead?" She asked curiously.

Logan laughed and lifted his head back up, "Tommy's hardly some poor guy and I think he took more frustration out on me than I did on him." Veronica glanced over at the guy he'd been fighting, who was now walking back across the gym. He gave Logan a quick smile and nod before walking back into the locker room. Veronica noticed he had a green clover tattoo on his shoulder. She raised her eyebrow at Logan with a questioning glance. He shook his head at her realizing what she saw. "Not here," he whispered.

She nodded and smiled back. "So, we should probably finish our conversation about Leo's offer at home and not the middle of a boxing gym." Her smile grew a little mischievous. "Of course I could borrow some gear too and we could just fight it out in the ring."

He shook his head and laughed at her. "I have a reputation to maintain around here and getting my ass kicked by you wouldn't help that." He gave her a wink then leaned in for another quick kiss. "I'm going to take a quick shower and then I'll see you at home, okay?" He couldn't help but notice that she also had just called it home and not 'your' home. She nodded and headed back toward the door.

On the way back to the house, Logan felt a little better than when he left, but not all of his anxiety was gone. He couldn't shake that feeling that something bad was going to happen to her if she went after the criminal element in Neptune. He did know that Leo cared almost as much about her as he did though, and he'd likely take extra precautions to be sure she was safe. That was at least a comforting thought given everything else he was worried about. He trusted Leo like a brother and knew he could count on him to watch out for her. He actually didn't envy him knowing what a handful she can be.

When Logan finally walked in the house, Veronica was sitting on the couch waiting for him. He went over and sat next to her and gave her a warm smile..

"Hi," she said softly with a small smile.

"Hi," he replied and smiled then leaned in and kissed her. When he sat back up, he reached over and pulled her so she was sitting across his lap. He ran his hand through her hair and twirled a few strands around his fingers before putting them behind her ear. "So I guess we need to finish that conversation from earlier don't we." She nodded and put her arm over his shoulder so she could run her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck.

"How about if you just work for me?" He said with a playful grin.

"And what would my job entail?" She asked him with a wide smile.

"Hmm… I've always wanted a personal fluffer." She rolled her eyes at him, "What? A pillow fluffer, you know, so when it's time for bed all of my pillows are perfectly fluffed for sleeping." She poked him in the stomach gently and shook her head.

"No?" He gave her a disbelieving look and then looked thoughtful for a few more seconds. "Personal wake-up call…. girl?" She laughed and shook her head. He chuckled at himself on his clever title. "Oh I know, my own personal security guard. You can stay here all day and make sure no one breaks in. Guard the gazebo at the beach?" She laughed and shook her head again.

"This place is practically Fort Knox, I really don't think that would entail much actual work."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, "What if I paid you to visit local restaurants and report back to me how good they are and what I should order when I take you there?"

She gave him a strange look, "A personal food critic?"

"You do love food," he added with a smile.

"Logan," She gave him a more serious look.

"What if I bought you that pony you've always wanted? You could spend your days riding it around and combing and braiding its mane and tail."

She laughed again and shook her head. "As much as I've always wanted a pony, I think I'd be bored after the first day of that."

"You know you could just live here with me and you wouldn't have to work at all. Just find things you enjoy doing and do those." He ran his hand over her head and looked at her lovingly.

She sighed softly. "I enjoy solving mysteries and getting justice." She gave him a tender smile, and ran her fingers across his forehead smoothing out the creases that started to form.

"I know, and I do want you to be happy." He said with a sad smile on his face, "I just wish you enjoyed something a little less dangerous."

"If I work for Leo, I'd likely always have a deputy with me if we were doing any investigating in the field. I wouldn't be on my own for things that could be dangerous."

He nodded, "I'm worried you're going to try to take down the Fitpatrick's though, and I can't stand the thought of you being anywhere near Liam again. I'd be happy if he never even knew you were back in town." A worried look crossed her face. "Veronica?"

She let out a sigh, "He may already know that I'm in town."

He took a deep breath trying not to get upset, "And how does he know that?"

"I may have bumped into him coming out of the Sheriff's Office today." She smiled uncertainly at him, "But nothing happened."

"What was he doing there?" Logan asked with his tone becoming a bit more concerned.

"I called Leo when I got into the car and he said he was there to bail out one of his cousins who was arrested the night before for disorderly conduct."

"I'm going to pretend that didn't happen, okay?" Logan said quietly and stared intently into her eyes. She nodded and leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.

"Hey, how about you?" She narrowed her eyes at him and continued, "Was I wrong about you jumping in the boxing ring with a Fighting Fitzpatrick too?"

He gave her a sheepish look. "Well that's different. Tommy's not Liam, just one of his million cousins, and we weren't in some back alley duking it out over some illegal operation gone wrong."

She gave him a look that clearly insinuated she didn't think it was that different. "Fine," he said after a moment, "we'll say you accidentally running into Liam is the same as me knowingly taking out my frustrations on one of his cousins." She smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

He looked intently at her again. "So you really want to work for Leo more than the DA's office?"

She nodded again and smiled softly at him. "Anyway, I can convince the Mayor to approve the position?" she asked with a sweet smile on her face.

A mischievous grin crossed his face, "Oh there are lots of positions you can take that this Mayor would approve of." She laughed and bumped against him with her shoulder. He became a bit more serious, "I'd really rather you didn't go chasing after criminals, but I want you to stay in Neptune and be happy with what you're doing, so if that's really what you want to do, then I'll support you. Remember I told you already I'd support you no matter what you decided to do, even if it's something I may not be thrilled about."

She nodded and leaned in and kissed him deeply. "Thank you," she said softly as their lips parted. "So did you hear back from Vanessa? Do we get to spend our evening in the company of your ex-fiancé?"

He took a deep breath and nodded, "Vanessa is going to text me when they get back to Neptune. There's a new steak and seafood place that opened up that Vanessa really wanted to try, so I made a reservation for us a little later. Are you sure you're still okay with this? I could go without you if you don't want to have to deal with Alexis."

"Hey, I'm the one that came up with the plan. Of course I'm going to see it through." She smiled lovingly at him, "And it's not that I don't trust you, because I do… completely… 100% trust you with her. But I like Vanessa a lot too, and I'd love to see her again. And maybe there's something I can pick up on too. I happen to be a pretty good detective you know." She gave him a little wink and he gazed lovingly back in her eyes and then gave her a quick kiss. "But remember, tomorrow is an Alexis free day. Oh, and speaking of tomorrow, I hope you were serious about the BBQ, because Dad and Alicia were thrilled and I already invited Wallace and Cora, Darryl, and Mac and Dick all over."

He smiled happily at her, "Mi casa es su casa." She leaned in and kissed him again. She hadn't decided if she wanted to make it more formally her home yet, but was thrilled they'd gotten through Leo's offer without as much bloodshed as she'd expected. She knew he still wasn't thrilled about it, but it meant the world to her that he trusted her enough to let her do it. Even if the day started and ended with Alexis in it, at least there were some really great parts in between.


	33. Chapter 33 - Mayoral Expertise

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 33 – Mayoral Expertise

"So about those positions I get to approve…" Logan said giving her a leering look. "Can we start with some in the shower?"

"I'm not sure that's really part of your mayoral duties, is it?" She smirked at him as she headed up the stairs to get ready to go to dinner.

He hopped up off the couch and followed quickly behind her. "I'm pretty sure it is." He replied with a grin, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and she started to climb the stairs. "And besides, you just asked me a few minutes ago to approve your position didn't you?"

She laughed and shook her head. She elbowed him lightly in the side, to which he grimaced quite a bit more than she expected. She turned and gave him a suspicious look, stopping a step above him on the stairs. She lifted up his shirt and noticed a fairly large bruise forming on his side where she'd nudged him and sighed, tracing her fingers very lightly over it.

"I guess I didn't keep my guard up as well as I should have," he said and gave her a quick kiss then passed her and continued up to the bedroom.

He headed into the room ahead of her and went into the bathroom. She followed behind him and watched as he took his shirt off and looked at the bruise himself in the mirror. "Hey, no broken ribs at least," he said with a smile on his face.

Her expression became concerned, "How often do you go play fight club down there?"

He shrugged before he replied. "I don't know. Sometimes I just go down there to get a good work out with the bags. I don't always end up in the ring." He tossed his shirt at the laundry hamper. "So, about those positions in the shower?" He turned to her with a flirtatious grin.

She gave him an exaggerated puzzled look and tapped her finger on her lip. "Didn't you just take a shower at the gym?"

"I was just volunteering my Mayoral expertise if you were going to take a shower and needed any assistance with position approval." He walked closer to her and leaned down to kiss her.

"I forgot what a benevolent ruler you were." She said with a sly smile, she was studying his chest and abs carefully and he could tell she was considering his offer by the lustful look that was growing in her eyes if even she was trying to be coy. "How long do we have before we need to leave for dinner?"

"I'd say about an hour at least, the reservation is in an hour and a half, but if we are a little late, it shouldn't be too big of an issue. I am the Mayor after all." He gave her a wink and waggled his eyebrows at her.

She shook her head at him, and then went over and turned the shower on. She started taking her clothes off with her back toward him. She glanced over her shoulder and gave him a lustful smile when she'd stripped completely. He had turned to lean against the counter and was admiring her quite deliberate striptease. She raised an eyebrow at him, "Well, are you joining me or not, Mr. Mayor?"

A lascivious grin spread across his lips and he quickly stepped out of his shorts, socks and shoes and followed her into the shower. He suggested several positions that he thought she should try, which were met by small giggles from her each time.

After their shower, Logan noticed she'd put a few more pieces of clothing on the chaise lounge that her overnight bag had taken up residence on. "You know, it's okay if you want to hang things up in the closet. I'd even be willing to share a few of my empty drawers with you too." He gave her a wink and then walked into his closet, still with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

She smiled shyly and spoke a bit quietly, "Okay, thanks, I'll take that under consideration. I stopped by my Dad's to get a dress for tonight and just grabbed a few more things."

He came back out holding a hanger with a light blue dress shirt on it, "You know, I was thinking…"

"Oh no, I hope you didn't strain yourself." She said with a smirk.

He gave her an amused grin and continued, setting the shirt on the bed, "I was thinking you could always just stay with me until you find your own place. If that would feel more comfortable for you, rather than moving in formally with me so soon. I didn't mean to make you feel pressured earlier today."

A playful grin crossed her face, "You know it might take me a while to find the perfect place."

He smiled playfully back, "I'm sure I can manage to put up with you for a while. I wouldn't want you to rush into finding a new place right away and then regret where you end up. It would be better to take your time and really explore all your options."

She looked at him thoughtfully and tapped her finger on her lip then raised her eyebrows. "And if I'm busy working, it could take even longer to find something."

He walked closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Naturally," was all he said as he leaned in and kissed her deeply. He tipped his head back after the kiss and smiled, "So you'll stay here until you can find your own place then?"

She gave him a knowing smile and nodded. Her eyes narrowed and she cocked her head slightly, "just until I find the absolutely perfect place to live."

"Until then," He said and kissed her one more time.

He'd set his phone on the dresser when he first walked in and it beeped from a text message. He read it, and then made a slightly puzzled face while he typed a reply.

"What's up?" Veronica asked as she saw his expression.

"Vanessa asked if we could pick her up at Alexis's house for dinner. I thought they were meeting us, so maybe Alexis isn't coming now. "

A pleased expression crossed Veronica's face and Logan couldn't help but smile back. He disappeared into the closet again and came back out with a pair of dark gray slacks on, though not yet zipped or buttoned. Veronica couldn't help staring at him as he came out to retrieve the light blue shirt he'd set on the bed a few minutes before. She had started putting on the dress she'd brought from her dad's house and paused as he walked back out from the closet. He had been looking at the bed to grab the shirt and glanced up as he put his arms through it. He raised his eyebrows at her when he saw her staring at his chest and abs.

"Enjoying the view?" He teased. She realized then that she'd been totally distracted and shook her head. There was a faint blush across her cheeks.

"Sorry I was thinking about what we should make for a side dish tomorrow," she replied in an innocent tone.

"Um hm," he said and smirked. "I think I make a better dessert than side dish, but either one works for me."

She rolled her eyes and finished putting on her dress, trying not to let him see the little smile that crept across her lips.

Thirty minutes later they were headed to get Vanessa in the Range Rover. Alexis's house was just about a half mile past Dick and Mac's, also on the beach. It was quite a bit smaller than Logan's sprawling house, but still very affluent looking. It was in a neighborhood of similar style houses, and had more of an open community feel to it than the gated secure zone that Logan lived in. Veronica waited in the SUV as Logan went up to the house to get Vanessa. A minute after he had rang the bell, Vanessa came out. She gave him a quick hug and waved at Veronica then walked over to the SUV with him. He opened the back door for her, and then returned to the driver seat.

"So Alexis decided not to join us?" Logan asked as he started the engine.

Vanessa laughed softly. "She said I could call her later if I needed a ride back home. She got a call from some Casey guy as we were driving back from LA to invite her to dinner and at first she said she didn't think she should go with him but I coaxed her into it." She paused then laughed again. "I think she had enough of you two being all lovey-dovey this morning anyway."

Veronica smiled slightly as she turned and stared out the passenger window. Logan gave Vanessa a puzzled look in the rear view mirror and she just shrugged and grinned back at him.

Their table was ready when they arrived at the restaurant so they were seated right away. They mostly chatted about the decor and feel of the new restaurant as they looked over the menus. Vanessa was wearing a light sweater over her dress so neither of them could see if there were actually any bruises on her arm.

"So I hear you're a pretty good surfer," Vanessa asked Veronica after the waitress had taken their orders. "Alexis was impressed at least, which says quite a bit."

Veronica smiled at the compliment. "I'm not bad, but not as good as her or the guys."

"Yeah but we've all been surfing since we were young, so your skills are really impressive for someone who just started last year," Logan added with a proud look on his face. She smiled and thanked him with a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I miss surfing," Vanessa chimed in. "I didn't have time to go do it for quite a while and then once I found out I was pregnant, decided that probably wasn't the best thing to be doing." Veronica gave her a sympathetic look.

"So you said things went okay with your parents?" Logan asked curiously.

She nodded and smiled. "Of course they weren't overjoyed with the news, but once the initial shock wore off, they said they'd support me however I wanted them too."

"Have you thought about moving back with them? Being way over in Catalina will make it harder if you need help at all with the baby once he's here." There was definitely underlying concern evident in Logan's tone.

"They offered, but I said I wanted to stay with Tyler on Catalina." She gave him a slightly suspicious look.

"If Tyler's so excited about the baby, then why didn't he come with you to tell them?

Seems a bit cowardice to make you go alone." Logan asked with a disapproving expression on his face.

Vanessa shot him an angry glare. "He had to work and this visit wasn't exactly planned far in advance you know."

Veronica tipped her head down at the comment, but Vanessa kept her glare on Logan. "He's going to come over next weekend with me to spend some time with them. Mom wants to take us shopping for baby clothes and furniture for a nursery."

"Well that's good," Logan replied. "Maybe you should bring him down to see me too so I can remind him that he'd better treat you right." His tone had become very protective as he continued to talk and he couldn't help but look at her arms.

Vanessa shook her head and then narrowed her eyes at him. "Alexis told you about the bruises didn't she?"

He sighed and nodded. "She was just really worried about you Nessa, and I am too."

"So you conveniently invited me to dinner so you could grill me about it?" She asked with her eyebrow raised at him.

"I wanted to see how things went with your parents too." He said a bit sheepishly and then he sighed deeply. "Nessa please be honest with me. Did Tyler put the bruises on your arm?" He looked at her pleadingly with a concerned tone to his voice.

She sighed and shook her head at him, she stared him straight in the eyes, "No Logan, Tyler did not cause the bruises on my arm. Some drunk guy at the club last night grabbed me to pull me out of his way and I didn't even realize he'd grabbed me that hard until I noticed it this morning."

Veronica had been studying her reaction carefully and decided if Vanessa was lying, she was very good at it. None of the typical signs where there that she would normally pick up on if someone was lying. Logan was staring intently at Vanessa still. She decided to try to break the staring stand off by at least focusing some of the frustration at her instead of just Logan. "Hey Vanessa," she interrupted, "I didn't get a chance to apologize for mentioning you to Alexis. I'm really sorry about that."

Vanessa turned her attention to Veronica and smiled. "It's fine. Sounds like the elevator ride was pretty interesting at least." Veronica blushed slightly and looked down at the table. "Seriously, don't worry about it. I know that Alexis can really push people's buttons and sometimes you just lose it. I couldn't even count the number of times it happened with us growing up." She smiled knowingly at Veronica, "Don't get me wrong, she is my sister and I do love her, but I know she can be a royal bitch sometimes too."

Veronica smiled back at Vanessa and nodded in agreement. "She was pretty nice this morning at the beach at least."

Vanessa turned her attention back to Logan, "So since you lured me here under false pretenses, I think you owe me something in return." She gave him a devious smile and winked at him.

He sighed and nodded reluctantly, "Fine, what do you want?"

Her smile grew bigger. "I want to go to Growlers tonight. I miss Dick and Mac, and since it's a Saturday night, I figured they'd be there."

"As long as it's okay with Veronica." Logan turned to look at Veronica, who shrugged and nodded in agreement. "Okay after dinner we can go there. I'll text Dick and let him know we're coming."

After they finished eating they headed to Growlers. Vanessa had texted Alexis in the car to let her know they were going there, and Alexis texted back that her and Casey would stop by too and then she could ride home with them.

Shortly after getting inside, they spotted Dick and Mac and headed over to where they were standing. Mac gave Vanessa and Veronica a double hug, while Dick shook Logan's hand. Mac squealed a little bit when she noticed Vanessa's baby bump and gave her another big hug and congratulations about it. Veronica couldn't help but recall back to Mac's reaction to baby talk with Carmen and was starting to wonder if her and Dick were planning on kids soon once they were married.

"Hey man!" Dick said to Logan, and then he raised an eyebrow at him and gave him a look that seemed like he expected some trouble. He spoke in a lower voice, but the ladies still heard him anyway. "Kennedy's here tonight with Tommy." A mischievous grin spread across Vanessa's face.

"Who's Kennedy?" Veronica asked suspiciously as she noticed Vanessa's smile, and that Logan didn't look very happy all of a sudden.

Vanessa's smile softened, realizing that Veronica didn't know the story that she and Dick knew, and that Mac may not have known either. "Logan dated Kennedy between when he broke off his engagement with Alexis the first time and when they got back together." She gave Logan an apologetic smile and shrugged. "She sort of hates Alexis, and I doubt she's too fond of Logan anymore either."

Logan sighed deeply and Dick added, "And Alexis has dated Tommy off and on. Good thing she didn't come with you guys tonight."

Vanessa's mischievous smile returned. "She's actually supposed to be here a bit later with her date."

A wide smile formed on Dick's face, while Mac shook her head. "Well this should be exciting," Dick said with an amused laugh, rubbing his hands together.

Veronica gave Logan a puzzled look, "Tommy, as in your sparring partner this afternoon?" He nodded solemnly at her. Veronica made a slightly annoyed face, "Quite the tight knit little group you all are, aren't you?"

"Hey, who'd like some drinks?" Mac interrupted sensing things were about to get a little tense. Veronica nodded and followed Mac to the bar. Veronica knew he'd dated other women after Alexis and the chance of running into them around town was probably fairly high if they lived in Neptune. It just wasn't something she had been expecting to have to deal with tonight, not on top of Alexis showing up at some point. And then there was the whole other topic of Alexis dating Tommy, who Logan took his frustration out on this afternoon. As she was walking, she felt Logan walk up next to her and put his arm around her waist. His fingers gently rubbed her side as they walked. She didn't look at him until they got almost to the bar. Mac had continued toward the bar to get drinks for her and Veronica after asking what she was in the mood for.

When Veronica finally did turn and look at Logan, she saw that concerned apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry," he said as he looked intently into her eyes.

She sighed and shook her head gently. "What are you sorry for?"

He lifted his hand and pushed a few strands of her hair away from her face. "For you having to deal with stupid mistakes I made while you were gone." He sighed again, "Kennedy turned out to be a really bad lack of good judgment. I really am sorry."

"Hey," She said, putting a hand on his cheek. His sad look and her realization that there were lots of things that happened during the time she was gone that they'd eventually have to deal with had softened her initial annoyance a bit. "Weren't you the one who told me that not everything was going to go easily and that I didn't need to apologize for every little thing? The same goes for you too." She tipped up and gave him a quick kiss, and then smiled lovingly at him. "We came to have a good time with our friends and dance. I know you dated other women and that we'll probably run into them from time to time." She glanced down at the ground for a moment, then back up at him, "That doesn't mean I'm not going to get a little jealous too though."

He pulled her close and wrapped both his arms around her and kissed her on the forehead. She smiled up at him, and then he gave her a deeper kiss on the lips. "There's no reason for you to be jealous of anyone Veronica. You should know you're the only one that matters to me, always." She smiled and bumped her shoulder gently into him. He squeezed her a little tighter and kissed her temple again.

Mac had appeared next to them and when they finished kissing, she handed Veronica a chocolate martini and asked Logan if he wanted anything. Logan shook his head and kept one hand around Veronica's waist.

Mac led them to the same private table that they had been at last time. Dick and Vanessa had walked over together and when the next song started, Vanessa convinced Dick to go out and dance with her. Mac nodded that it was fine with her and the two wandered off to the dance floor. Vanessa took her sweater off and set it on a chair at the table. Logan caught a glance at the bruise on her arm and raised his eyebrow at her. She gave him a knowing look and shook her head at him before turning and walking off with Dick.

Logan took a deep breath and tried to push the worry about Vanessa aside. "Would you like to dance?" Logan asked and held his hand out for Veronica. She smiled and took his hand and gave Mac a look to be sure she didn't mind being left behind before they headed out to the dance floor. They danced much closer this time than they had the first time they were at the club together. He kept his hands around her body and kissed her neck several times as they danced. She smiled seductively at him and enjoyed moving to the music with him. When the song was over, they headed off the floor to get some water.

They were almost back to the table when they were approached by another couple. Veronica barely recognized the man as Tommy from the gym, since he looked so different dressed in nice slacks and a dress shirt, with his hair perfectly styled. The woman was about five inches taller than Veronica, with long curly red hair and bright green eyes. Of course she was curvy in all the places that mattered and perfectly toned in all the others. She flashed a perfect smile at them as she spoke, "Hi Logan. It's been a while. Nice to see you."

"Kennedy, Tommy," Logan replied with a brief nod to them both.

Tommy gave Veronica a big smile, "Hey, thanks for distracting him at the gym today. It's always nice to get a few unanswered shots in." Veronica smiled a bit bashfully and nodded.

"This is my girlfriend, Veronica Mars," Logan said as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her a little closer to him. "Veronica this is Kennedy O'Reilly and Tommy Fitzpatrick."

Kennedy flashed a catty smile at Veronica, "Nice to meet you. I see Logan's back to blondes this month."

"Classy Kennedy," Logan replied with an angry look on his face as he shook his head. He took a deep breath before he spoke again, "Ready to go back to our table Veronica?" She nodded and they continued on.

"Well she was charming," Veronica said as they sat back at their table, reaching for one of the glasses of water that Mac had delivered for them all while the others were out dancing. Logan had already reached for one as well when he sat down.

He sighed and shook his head, sitting his glass down on the table. "I'm so sorry about her. Dating her was definitely one of several bad decisions I made in the last 8 years."

Veronica raised her eyebrows in a questioning look. He shrugged, "She seemed really nice when we first met after I broke up with Alexis, but she turned out to be a bit of a psychotic bitch..." His expression quickly changed to apologetic, "sorry… sanity challenged female?"

Veronica laughed. "I think the former probably fits her better from the little that I saw of her."

He shook his head and laughed with her. "Yeah, like I said, horrible decision. I seem to make really bad choices right after a bad break up." He paused a moment realizing he shouldn't have gone down that path and tried to change the topic. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You look really beautiful tonight."

Veronica smirked at his overly obvious change in conversation. Of course she also couldn't help but thing back to Kendall Casablancas, his bad choice after they'd broken up at the start of Senior year. She tried to push those memories out of her head though and focus on the present instead. "Do you want to dance again?" she asked as she smiled at him. He smiled back and nodded and gave her a quick kiss before they stood up and went back to the dance floor. Mac had joined Vanessa and Dick out on the floor so they headed in their direction and the five of them stayed out dancing to several songs.

They finally all headed back to the table to get some drinks and rest for a few songs. A little while after they'd sat down, Alexis and Casey arrived. They stopped by the table and quickly said hello to everyone, before heading out to the dance floor. Veronica noticed that they seemed to be getting along well and that Casey had his arm wrapped around her waist as they had approached and left the table. She also noticed no one mentioned Tommy and Kennedy to her, which Veronica found a little interesting.

She leaned over closer to Logan to talk more privately with him. "I can't really see Alexis with a Fitzpatrick. I know you said he's not Liam, but I still can't quite see him fitting the type of guy I'd expect Alexis would date."

He shrugged and looked a little perplexed too. "I guess there's something to be said about those bad boy types you know." He gave her a little wink, "Of course I'm a reformed bad boy now." She smirked and nodded at him.

After relaxing at the table for a few songs, Veronica said she was going to brave a trip to the restroom and Vanessa said she'd join her. On their way they ran into Casey and Alexis coming back from the bar. Alexis said she'd go with them too and meet Casey back at the table. As the three of them came out of the restroom, Vanessa saw an old friend from her time at Stanford and went off with her to meet her fiancé. Veronica grimaced to herself about being left alone with Alexis, but figured it would only take a couple minutes to make it back to the table.

Unfortunately on the way back to their table, they ran into Tommy and Kennedy. Alexis quickly surmised by their closeness and behavior that they were there together and her expression became livid. Tommy looked a bit worried but tried to remain calm while Kennedy's expression turned very smug. She wrapped her arm around Tommy's waist and shot Alexis a venomous smile. Alexis gave her a similar look in return.

Kennedy recognized Veronica from earlier and glanced between her and Alexis before speaking, "How cute, Logan's current conquest and the one he couldn't wait to be free of together, I'm sure you too could have lots of fun comparing notes." Both Veronica and Alexis shot her angry glares.

"I see you're still going after the guys I've already had." Alexis commented in a malicious tone.

Kennedy glared back before responding with the same level of venom. "Hard not to when you've slept with most of the men in Neptune. I'm surprised you haven't gotten yourself knocked up like your slutty little sister."

Alexis had already been angry, but the comment about Vanessa took it to a new level. Tommy immediately recognized the look in her eyes and was quick enough to reach up and block Alexis's fist right before it landed on Kennedy's jaw. Kennedy's bright green eyes were open wide in surprise, as were Veronica's.

Tommy kept a hold of Alexis's fist as he yelled, "That's enough Kennedy," and put his other arm around Alexis's waist and walked her toward the outdoor deck. Kennedy's expression changed from shocked to angry and she let out a huff and turned and walked in the opposite direction. "I'd watch my back if I were you," she snapped to Veronica as she walked past.

Veronica took a deep breath and walked back to their table. Logan was discussing something with Dick and didn't notice her right away. Casey had been watching for them to return and a puzzled look spread across his face when he saw only Veronica.

"What happened to the other two?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.

Veronica hesitated for a few seconds before replying. "They both ran into some people they knew. I'm sure they'll be back soon."

Casey looked confused for a moment then smiled and leaned a little closer. "Thanks for letting me know that Alexis might be free for dinner tonight." He gave her a sly wink.

She blushed slightly, "Did I?" she asked innocently. He laughed at her and sat back up.

She sighed, "Be careful with her though. I don't want you to get hurt."

He smiled at her and nodded, "I'm not that naive Veronica. She's a lot of fun, but it's pretty easy to tell she's not the long-term relationship type."

Veronica smiled back and thought to herself, 'Well that's good since who knows what she's doing out on the deck with Tommy.' She was a little surprised she hadn't made it back yet. Logan finished up his discussion with Dick and moved closer to Veronica. He wrapped his arm around her and gave her a quick kiss on the temple.

"What are you two talking about and what happened to the other two?" He gave Veronica a slightly suspicious yet amused look.

"Hey, I'm totally innocent," she defensively replied.

Logan's expression became a bit more suspicious, "I was just kidding." He wondered what was going on though given her reaction. He cocked an eyebrow at her with a questioning glance. Veronica looked a bit nervously at him and smiled. Since the music was loud, he pulled her a little closer and whispered into her ear, "What's going on?"

She gave Casey a friendly smile then leaned in closer to whisper to Logan hoping it just looked like close couple talk and nothing else. "Alexis took a swing at Kennedy and Tommy whisked her out to the deck after he blocked it."

Logan's eyes opened a bit larger as he replied simply, "Oh."

A few seconds later, Alexis walked back over to the table, followed closely by Tommy. Tommy walked with is hands in his pockets and his head tipped down slightly. Veronica couldn't help but notice his very non-threatening approach for some reason. She also noticed that Alexis was in a much better mood than when she last saw her being dragged out to the deck. Veronica couldn't help but wonder if it was actually partly substance induced by the way her eyes seemed a little glassier than earlier too. "Hey Casey," Alexis said with a sweet smile on her face, "Do you mind if I dance with Tommy for a song or two?"

Casey smiled at her and shook his head, "No problem Alexis, have fun." She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek and then headed toward the dance floor. Tommy nodded politely to Casey and Logan, and then continued on his way following Alexis.

Shortly after they'd left, Vanessa returned. She noticed Casey was there without Alexis. "What happened to Lexi?" She asked curiously.

"She's out dancing with Tommy," Veronica answered with a little smile.

"Oh, interesting. Hey, can I dance with Logan?" Vanessa asked with a sweet smile on her face. Veronica nodded and Logan stood up and followed Vanessa out on the floor. Dick and Mac followed them back out as well, leaving Veronica and Casey at the table. "And then there were two," Veronica said with a smirk on her face. Casey smiled back and held his hand out for her. She smiled and took it and they headed toward the dance floor as well.

The club had been getting increasingly busier, and there were more people than the prior Friday night when they'd been there, so it was harder to move around on the dance floor. Casey and Veronica ended up in a spot a bit away from everyone else. Casey's back was toward Alexis and Tommy, but Veronica had a clear view of them. She could also see Logan and Vanessa were off in another direction next to Mac and Dick. Alexis had her back toward Veronica as well, so she couldn't tell that Veronica was there dancing with Casey. Veronica couldn't really help but watch the two of them dance with the spot she'd ended up in. Tommy clearly still had a strong interest in her if his behavior on the dance floor was any indication. His hands were definitely in the 'more than just friends' zone throughout most of the dance. Alexis also seemed to be enjoying herself, and part way through the song Veronica noticed Tommy's mouth all over her neck with a few of his kisses landing deeply on her mouth as well. Veronica couldn't help but wonder where Kennedy had ended up and if more fireworks would end up flying between them tonight.

After two songs, Casey and Veronica were about to head back to the table, when Alexis and Tommy turned to go back too. As the other two caught up to them, Alexis grabbed Casey's arm and gestured for him to stay on the floor with her, giving Tommy a casual wave goodbye. Veronica and Tommy continued walking off together toward the table.

"What happened to your date?" Veronica couldn't help but ask as they reached the table.

Tommy smirked a bit at her and shrugged. "She texted me that she was walking down to The Clover with some friends. I should probably go and catch up with her there I suppose."

Veronica noticed that he was still keeping his eye on Alexis, with only a glance or two back at her while they talked. Logan and Vanessa returned as well, and Logan took a seat next to Veronica and gave her a quick kiss. Tommy's phone must have gone off in his pocket and he looked a bit frustrated at the message before putting it back.

"I guess I need to get down to The Clover now," He said as he put his phone back in his pocket. "It was really nice meeting you Veronica. Feel free to drop by the gym anytime Logan's there to distract him when he's in the ring with me." He gave her a little wink and reached out to shake Logan's hand. Logan laughed and shook his head and told him to stay out of trouble.

After being at the club for almost two hours, Logan leaned in and whispered in Veronica's ear. "How about we go home and we can work on my recommended mayoral positions list again?"

She smiled coyly at him and shook her head slightly. "I think you're letting your power as Mayor go to your head now."

He smiled smugly back at her and nodded. They said their good byes to the rest of the group and headed out to their car. They'd had to park a little ways from Growlers when they arrived because the closer spots were all taken. Logan had his arm around her waist and kept her close as they continued along the sidewalk to his car. There were quite a few people out walking between the clubs and restaurants down near the beach. As they approached his car, Veronica caught a flash of red hair out of the corner of her eye, and turned to see Kennedy smack Tommy across the face and storm off back in the direction of The Clover. "Ouch," she said quietly to Logan as he raised his eyebrows at her after seeing it too.

Logan shook his head and grimaced slightly. "Tommy should have known she'd likely find out about him and Alexis practically having sex back there on the dance floor. Kennedy unfortunately has lots of connections with people in town. Although I guess the slap could have been for some other reason. Like I said, she's a bit crazy."

Veronica gave him a curious look. She hadn't realized he'd been dancing where he could see Tommy and Alexis dancing together. She couldn't help but wonder if it bothered him at all to see Alexis with other guys, but she didn't feel like playing amateur shrink tonight. She'd rather just go home and enjoy the rest of the night letting him suggest interesting positions and perhaps she'd suggest a few of her own. It was after midnight, and she'd been the one who wanted an Alexis free Sunday, so she vowed to not be the one to bring her up for at least the next 24 hours.


	34. Chapter 34 - Confession

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

Chapter 34 – Confession

On the drive home from Growlers Veronica had fallen asleep. Logan carried her up to the bedroom and laid her down gently on the bed. He thought she'd started to wake up as he'd gotten her out of the car, but once he put her on the bed, she'd rolled over against the pillow and was asleep again. He went back downstairs to put the cars in the garage, and lock up the house. As he was heading back upstairs, his phone beeped that he had a text message.

It was from Alexis. 'Thanks for checking on Nessa. Did you believe her story about Tyler?'

He paused on the stairs and texted her back. 'I think so, but I think we still need to keep a close eye on her.' He sent the message and started to type another one then stopped. He was going to ask her if everything was okay after her run in with Kennedy, but decided against it. He was actually worried about what she was doing with Tommy, but knew it wasn't really his place to get involved with that. He'd noticed that she seemed a bit off when she came back from being out on the deck with him, and couldn't help but wonder if Tommy had given her something out there. He looked up the stairs toward his room, then back down at the phone. He knew that if Veronica hadn't been back and this would have happened, he would have pushed her about it. He knew Alexis had gotten into trouble at UCLA with more than light recreational drug use, though she hadn't gone into all the specifics with him about it. That was one of the reasons she'd transferred to Hearst, and left behind most of her old friends. He let out a troubled sigh and decided to just let it go. One night of doing something with Tommy, didn't mean she was going to end up in trouble again. The phone beeped again and he scrolled down to read her reply.

'OK. At least she's coming back over next weekend too. Maybe we can take a trip over to Catalina to check on her in a few weeks."

He sighed and typed back, 'I'll check with Veronica and maybe the two of us can go and check on her and let you know." He could imagine the face she likely made as she read it.

After a minute, she finally wrote back, 'OK'.

He sighed and decided to put his phone on silence. He'd promised Veronica an Alexis free day on Sunday, and he figured the best way to keep that promise was to not have any calls or texts come in, announced at least. He walked up the rest of the way to the bedroom and set his phone on the table next to the bed. Alexis seemed to be done for the night at least, since nothing else came through, so he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

After he'd finally changed into some sleep pants, he went back out and looked at Veronica. He decided she probably wouldn't want to sleep all night in her dress, so he tried to carefully take it off without waking her up, but wasn't successful.

She opened her eyes part way to look at him. "Hey there, I'm sorry," she said sleepily with a yawn. She sat up enough so he could get her dress off, then he pulled one of his t-shirts he'd grabbed for her over her head and crawled into bed next to her. He pulled her close and ran his hand up and down her back gently.

"Sweet dreams," he whispered as he nuzzled his face into her hair and kissed her head. He felt her doze off again a few minutes later.

Logan slept better than the previous night, but still had a few nightmares. He had woken up from one in the middle of the night and held her a little closer until he was able to fall back asleep. He had another one that woke him up around 5am, and when he jolted awake from that one he woke Veronica too. She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him. He squeezed her and kissed her forehead.

"Good morning beautiful," Logan whispered against her forehead and kissed her temple.

"Good morning sexy," she replied in a sleepy sultry voice.

"Sorry I woke you up," He said softly and ran his hand up and down her back a few times. He moved his hand up into her hair and gently massaged her head as he gently kissed her on the forehead again.

"Did you have a bad dream? I thought I heard you yell out," she said as she ran her fingers across his chest.

"I guess maybe I did. It's really early though, you should try to go back to sleep." He went back to rubbing his hand up and down her back again.

She scooted up higher, so she could kiss his lips. "Do you want to talk about your nightmares? Maybe that would help you get over them."

"I sort of told you about them the other night when we first talked about it, after we came back from Troy's." He moved his hand from her back up to her hair again, and gently ran his fingers through her soft sleep tousled curls.

She sat up a little bit so she could look at him better and ran her fingers across his forehead and down his cheek. She stared intently into his eyes. The room was just starting to light up from the sunrise outside and his pupils were still very large, making his eyes look very dark and troubled. She ran her fingers over his eyebrows again and then into his hair, gently playing with his short locks. "I used to have nightmares too," she said in a soft confessional tone. "Mine actually got better after you saved me from Cassidy though." She gave him a loving smile and he moved his fingers so he could trace the smile on her lips with his finger tips. She kissed his fingers as they brushed passed her lips and then he moved that hand down to gently rest on her hip. She continued looking intently at him, "They got better because you were always there to save me in them." He leaned a bit so he could kiss her forehead again then placed a soft kiss on her lips.

She sighed and moved her hand back down to his chest and moved her fingers in random patterns on his warm skin. She changed her position, so she was looking at his chest rather than in his eyes. "When I was interning at the FBI my second year, I finally got to go out on a case with some of the agents. It was supposed to be a pretty basic investigation that wasn't supposed to be dangerous at all, so they were authorized to have me go along." She kissed his chest before she continued on. "The guy we were going to visit was suspected of embezzlement, so it was basically just a white collar crime, versus something dangerous. But someone didn't do a good job with the profiling, and when we got to the guy's place, he ended up grabbing me and held me as his hostage." She felt Logan tense up and hold his breath for a moment. The hand that had been stroking her hair fell down to her shoulder and he squeezed it firmly. "It was a tense couple of hours, but they were of course able to get me out safely. But for several weeks after that I started having nightmares again." He felt her take a slightly shaky breath before she continued. "After the first week, I decided to take desperate measures." She chuckled lightly and ran her hand up along his jaw again. "I had saved a voice mail you left me before everything went bad at Hearst and I would play it every night before I went to sleep to have good thoughts about how you'd saved me, and then eventually the nightmares went away." She chuckled softly again. "I think I listened to that same voice mail every night for almost a month."

He moved his head so he could kiss her forehead and exhale a deep breath he didn't realize he was holding a she listened to her. He was actually speechless and not sure what to say. A part of him was so moved by the thought of her doing that, but another part was instantly sad that they had been apart for so long. He wanted to say that he wished she had called him and talked to him then, but he knew that regretting things that they couldn't change wouldn't help them now. He took a deep breath and ran his hand slowly up and down her back again in a soothing motion. Though he realized it was more to sooth him self rather than her. He took a moment and tried to push back the feeling of sadness that had coursed through him. He kissed her softly on the forehead again and smiled against her head. "Are you volunteering to let me listen to my own message before I go to sleep so I won't have bad dreams?" he asked in a slightly teasing tone.

She chuckled softly and shook her head. "Unfortunately I had to change carriers when I went to Massachusetts, so I don't have it anymore." She heard him make a thoughtful humming sound before she continued in a soft loving tone. "Maybe I should leave one for you to listen to instead. I'd tell you that you've always been one of my biggest heroes and that I don't doubt you'll always be there to save me no matter what." She felt him smile against her forehead again before he placed another kiss there.

"Thank you Veronica," He said softly. She nodded her head against his chest, and then kissed him there again.

"So, since we're both awake should we take advantage of the early morning hour?" She said in a more playful tone.

"What did you have in mind?" He asked in a deep lustful voice.

"Surfing of course," she teased back. "It was so great being out on the waves yesterday and you'll be going back to work tomorrow, so how about we go and surf some of the early morning waves before we have to get ready for the BBQ later today?"

She felt his body shake slightly as he laughed quietly. "Well that wasn't the early morning activity I had in mind, but I'm not going to complain. Watching you surf is definitely something I won't pass up." He changed his tone and seductively added, "It's quite a turn on you know?"

She leaned up again so she could look at his face. "Really?" She asked sincerely. The room was starting to get brighter and she could make out the golden flecks in his brown eyes better than before. She could also see a little spark of excitement in his eyes as he smiled back at her. He nodded his head slowly and raised his eyebrows as he gazed back at her. She shyly bit on her lip, then leaned in and kissed him. "Well let's go see if you still feel that way after I crush you out there this morning." He smirked back and kissed her more deeply, then smiled as she hopped off of the bed to get dressed. She started for the chaise lounge that her bag had been on and realized it was gone.

"Where's my stuff?" She asked with a puzzled expression as she turned back to him.

He smiled, and sat up in bed before answering and ran his hand through his sleep tousled hair. "I put your stuff away in the closet while you were zonked out when we got home last night. I hung up some things, and the others are in the drawers on the left side of the walk-in closet. She gave him a surprised look and then climbed back on the bed to give him another kiss.

"Thanks for that. You knew I probably wouldn't do it on my own didn't you?"

He smiled and nodded. He reached up and cupped the side of her face. "I'm so happy you're here with me Veronica." She smiled lovingly back and kissed him one more time, then hopped off the bed again and headed into the closet in search of her bikini. She turned back to him when she got to the entrance of the closet and said in a soft voice, "I'm really happy to be here too."

Logan stopped in the kitchen after they were dressed and made some coffee for them to take down to the beach. There had been muffins left from the prior morning that he'd brought back up to the house and he grabbed them as well as some bananas. He retrieved a basket from one of the higher shelves and put the food and two travel coffee mugs in the basket to take down to the gazebo. Veronica watched him as he got everything ready with an amused look on her face.

"What?" he asked as he noticed her watching him.

"You're just so…" she paused for a moment, "domestic now."

He laughed, "It's just coffee, muffins and fruit, Veronica. It's not like it's a gourmet breakfast."

"I know, but even at the beach house, you're just so, I don't know, comfortable in the kitchen now."

He shrugged and walked closer so he could kiss her. He held out his hand for her to take and they headed out to get the surf gear. After putting on their wet suits, he carried the two boards and she carried the basket and they headed down the path toward the beach.

The waves were a little bit larger than the morning before. They alternated between surfing and lounging around in the cabana with their coffee and breakfast. Veronica was feeling a bit more confident than the day before as well and impressed Logan even more with her abilities. They lounged around and surfed for about two hours before heading back up to the house. Veronica helped him clean and put everything away this time. After they got the gear cleaned and put away, they ended up in the outside shower again to get all of the salt water off themselves and their suits.

Veronica was feeling rather frisky and had pushed him up against the shower wall after they spent a few minutes actually trying to get clean. She gave him a mischievous look, kissed him deeply, and then slowly slid his shorts off. She knelt down and ran her tongue up the inside of his thigh. She heard his breath tremble as he fisted his hand into her wet hair and leaned all the way back against the wall, a low moan escaping him. She smiled deviously and enjoyed being the one in complete control, moving her mouth and tongue over him. He pulled her back up before he lost control completely and spun them around so her front was against the shower wall and he was pressed against her back. He ran his hands up her sides and around to cup her breasts.

"You are so sexy Veronica," He moaned into her ear. She still had her bikini on and with his hands still cupping her breasts, he used his mouth to tug on her bikini straps to untie it. Once the top straps were undone, he slid the rest of the top down around her slender waist. She kept one arm against the wall, resting her head on it, but used the other one to push her bikini bottoms off her hips and so they would fall the rest of the way off. He was already pressed against her, and with her suit out of the way, she reached back and ran her hand up his thigh, feeling the tone muscles in his legs. He was kissing her passionately along her neck and shoulders and she arched her head back to give him better access. They enjoyed that position for a while, before he spun her around to face him again and looked lovingly in her eyes. "I love you so much Veronica," he said as her sparkling blue eyes locked on his lust filled golden brown ones. He kissed her deeply, and then looked intently at her again. "Do you want to move over to the lounge chairs?" he asked breathlessly.

She glanced over his shoulder at the hot tub and shook her head. "How about we move to the hot tub instead?" He smiled and nodded, then took her hand and walked over to the hot tub, removing the cover and helping her inside. She had removed her bikini top that was still tied around her waist as she waited for him to get the cover off the hot tub.

There was a built in reclined seat and she pushed him toward that, and then straddled his lap once he was positioned in it. He couldn't help but remember one night at the Grand when he convinced her to sneak down to the pool room with him and have sex in the hot tub there. It took a lot of convincing before she'd agreed, but it was definitely worth it once they did it. Back then, he'd remembered that as being one of the best times they'd been together. There was definitely something about the thrill of potentially being caught that had added to the experience. He wasn't sure if it was partly the memory of that night, or more of how confident she'd become now, but this time was exponentially better than that night all those years ago. As he tried catching his breath against her shoulder, he ran his hands down her body and traced all her curves, not wanting to let her body move away from his.

"You are so amazing," He said barely above a whisper, his breath still shaky. "I wish we could stay like this all day."

She laughed softly, "That might not go over so well when my dad gets here." She kissed the side of his cheek right by his ear, then ran her tongue along his ear and bit lightly at his ear lobe. He moaned and moved his head slightly, but was too exhausted to put up much of a fight. "But we still have several hours until anyone is coming over, so we can definitely stay like this for a while longer."

She sat up and cupped his chin with her hands and he gazed lovingly up at her. He ran his hands from her thighs back up to rest behind her shoulders, his forearms squeezing her gently. She leaned in and kissed him deeply again. "You're pretty amazing yourself you know?" she told him in a low sultry tone. She bucked her hips against him, and gave him a mischievous smile. "Ready for round two yet?"

He tipped his head down and rested his head against her shoulder again. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to kill me."

She laughed, and then kissed down his neck to his collar bone. "Well I do know the security codes to your alarm system and could probably live here quite comfortably for a while before I was caught." She felt him laugh against her shoulder, and then kissed her there before shaking his head slightly. He tipped his head up and looked at her with his eyes slightly narrowed. She smiled and kissed him on the lips. "But there's no way I'd be happy here without you." He smiled back and then kissed her more deeply. He turned their bodies so she was the one leaning back in the seat, and positioned himself on top of her again.

"Mmmm…" he moaned against her neck as he ran his tongue along her skin, "I think I'm ready for round two now." She laughed slightly, and ran her hands along his body as she arched up against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and angled her body so they would fit better together. She moaned against his shoulder as he wasted no time in proving to her that he really was ready for more.

When they were both satisfied after round two, they sat together in the hot tub with her sitting across his lap. Her arm was wrapped across his back, and her head was resting on his shoulder. He was running his hands lazily along her body, occasionally placing tender kisses on her forehead. "What time did you tell everyone to be here?" He finally asked as he ran a hand over her knee.

"Dad and Alicia should be home by 11, so we thought 4pm would give them enough time to relax for a while before they head over here."

"That's good. That will give us enough time to go grocery shopping and come back and get it all ready."

She gave him a slightly puzzled look. "So no take-out?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Are you kidding? For your Dad and Alicia?"

She shrugged and still kept the puzzled look. He winked and kissed her quickly on the lips. "I've got to pull out all the stops to impress them." He ran a hand along her head, pushing some strands of hair back off her face, then sighed and looked a bit more seriously at her. "It's not the first time I've had them over for a BBQ either. I know this is the first time we've done this together, but like I said before, we did get pretty close while you were away. And I'm not the guy who just orders room service at the Grand any more."

She smiled lovingly at him, "I know. I'm still figuring out how this new Logan fits in with everything else around here." She ran her fingers across his brow as she noticed they started to furrow slightly. "But I really do love this new Logan and I'm really proud of who you've become." He smiled softly at her and kissed her again.


	35. Chapter 35 - BBQ

_**Disclaimer: Only borrowing these wonderful characters from Rob Thomas. I sadly own nothing, but wish I did.**_

_**So this is the last chapter for this story. I had finished it several weeks ago on A03 as I started publishing it over here, which is why I was able to post a chapter each day. I wanted to thank everyone who read my story here and a special thanks to everyone who left reviews too. I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll be publishing a second story very soon and hope you all will continue to read the next installment. When I start publishing that one the updates will probably be more like weekly rather than daily though. Thanks again!**_

Chapter 35 – BBQ

Veronica stood in the middle of the kitchen staring at the cake she'd made for her dad's birthday. Logan had been outside getting the grill ready when she started frosting it, and he'd come back in to see the completed product. He smirked and raised an eyebrow at her. She scowled back at him and shook her head.

"It's not that bad," she said in a resigned tone.

"I didn't say it was, Bobcat." He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and continued on to the fridge to get the steaks out that they'd bought on their grocery shopping trip. When she said she wanted to bake her dad a cake for his birthday, which was the next day, he'd suggested they just get one of the already finished ones from the bakery. Of course she protested and said it had to be one she made herself and so he didn't argue. And he certainly wasn't going to say 'I told you so' either. Alicia had planned a big party for Keith the following Saturday, and Logan wondered if Veronica was going to insist on baking the cake for that one too, but also thought it wise not to ask at the moment.

"He loves my crooked leaning cakes. It's a Mars' tradition." She declared, mostly trying to convincing herself, as she stood there looking at it. She turned her head to the side to estimate just how crooked it really was.

"I'm sure it will be delicious," he said as he stopped next to her for a moment and cocked his head in the same direction. "It's definitely one of a kind." She elbowed him slightly, to which he grunted. "What?" he said in confusion with a faux pout on his face. She shook her head and rolled her eyes before she patted him gently where she'd elbowed him.

He went back over to the other counter where he'd set the steaks and started getting seasonings out to make a rub for them. He turned to look at her as he reached for a bowl to mix the seasonings in and saw her staring at him again. He raised his eyebrow in a questioning glance. "You're doing that again," he said in a neutral tone as he found a bowl and went back to where he'd set the seasonings.

"Mmm hmmmm," she replied as she leaned against the counter. He turned his head slightly toward her and gave her a quizzical look. She smiled and shrugged, "Well you know what you said about me surfing…."

He chuckled and shook his head. "So if I want to get lucky, all I have to do is come in the kitchen and make you some food?" He raised an eyebrow as he opened a drawer and grabbed a spoon to mix the seasoning with.

"Well you know me and food," she said in a playful tone. "But watching you prepare it is definitely a bigger turn on."

He walked toward her with the spoon in his hand and pinned her between him and the counter. He set the spoon down and then ran his hands down her sides, resting on her hips. He leaned down to kiss her, then laughed softly and picked her up and sat her on the counter instead. "Much easier than leaning down," he said with a smirk. He pressed his lips to hers as he stepped between her knees and pulled her closer. They were in the middle of a very passionate kiss when the door bell rang. He groaned a bit in frustration. "This is going to be a really long evening," he mumbled softly as he rested his head against her shoulder. She laughed and kissed him quickly on the top of the head and then shoved him away by pushing on his chest and hopped down to go answer the door.

Logan returned to preparing the rub and a few minutes later Veronica appeared in the kitchen again with Wallace and Cora. "I hope we're not too early, but Cora thought we should drop by and see if we could help get things ready." Wallace said apologetically.

Logan smiled warmly and shook his head, "No worries man. Thanks. I'm just getting the steaks ready for the grill. I already put the baked potatoes in a few minutes ago, but I think there were a few salads Veronica was planning to make, so I'm sure she could use a hand with those. I'm going to run down to the wine cellar to get a couple of bottles of wine for dinner. I could use a hand with that if you want to join me Wallace."

Veronica shot him a curious look. "There's a wine cellar?"

Wallace chuckled, "Maybe Veronica should help you, so she doesn't get lost later in the depths of your house."

Logan laughed softly and looked at her to see if she wanted to join him. She smiled and looked at Cora and Wallace and shrugged. "If you two don't mind?" They both smiled and nodded at her and so she followed Logan down the hall that led to the garage. They'd been coming and going through the front door, and he'd been the one to put the cars in the garage at night and take them out in the morning, so she hadn't actually even ventured into that part of the house yet.

He gestured at a closed door. "I guess I left off some parts of our tour the other day. That's where the laundry room is." She laughed softly and nodded. He opened the door across from it, which led down into a basement area. He'd turned on a light switch at the top of the stairs, and at the bottom there was a short hallway with 3 doors. Before he opened any of the doors, he smiled mischievously at her and moved toward her, pinning her against the wall. "Can't miss an opportunity of having you all to my self," he said lustfully as he pressed his mouth against hers and she sighed into him as she kissed him back. He moaned softly, then took a step back and released his hold on her. He turned toward the door on the right side of the small hall and opened it revealing an impressive wine cellar. There was a lot of empty space in it, but he had a decent sized collection for someone who rarely drank anymore. She was impressed with how state of the art it was. She also couldn't help but notice how many bottles seemed to have the same label, Calloway Winery. Logan handed her a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and then he grabbed a couple of other bottles himself and headed back to the hall.

She paused outside the door and looked at him curiously.

"What?" He replied when he saw her looking at him.

"What's behind door number 2 and 3?" She answered, starting to wonder if he was intentionally being evasive.

"Oh, right." He looked toward the door at the end of the hall. "That door just leads to unfinished space under the house. There aren't any lights in there though, so it would just be a dark hole without a flashlight."

She nodded and stared at the door that was on the opposite side of the hall from the Wine Cellar. "And that one?"

He hesitated a moment before he looked at the door and answered. "It was set up as a dark room before."

She wasn't expecting that answer at all. She gave him a puzzled look and then opened the door to look inside. She found the light switch and flipped it on. The room had definitely been used as a dark room at some point. He leaned against the door frame and watched her walk around the room. "Seems sort of obsolete in the age of digital photography though now," he commented as he continued to watch her.

She nodded and circled a giant work table in the center of the room. She noticed a board on one wall still had tacks in it. "Did the prior owners have it set up like this when you bought the house then?"

He looked down at the floor for a minute then back up at her and shook his head. "No." His face took on a slightly concerned look and then he sighed as he rested his head against the door frame.

She gave him an understanding smile and nodded, "Ah, Alexis free day right?" He nodded back at her and gave her an almost apologetic look. "So she's the one that set it up and used it?" He nodded and continued to watch her carefully. She walked back around to where she was standing right in front of him. "You're right, with digital, not many people still use film for photos anymore. With how rare it is, I think it's become somewhat of an expensive hobby these days anyway." He shrugged and nodded. "We'd better get back up stairs to our guests," she said as she gazed up into his eyes.

She reached over and turned off the light switch. Logan was still frozen in the door way, and with the light off in the room, all she could really see was his silhouette from the light in the hallway. "Do we need to talk more about this?" he asked in a low concerned tone.

She knew he could see her with the light flooding in behind him, illuminating her face. She smiled lovingly at him and shook her head. She sat her bottle of wine down on the counter by the door and reached up and cupped both sides of his face with her hands. "I love you Logan, past and all, okay?" He slowly nodded his head, and tipped his forehead down to rest against hers.

"I love you too, Veronica." He placed a soft kiss on her lips and let out a deep breath. She leaned up and kissed him a bit more passionately for a few moments.

"We'd better head back up stairs before they send a search party for us," she replied in a playful tone. He nodded and kissed her one more time before heading up the stairs to rejoin Wallace and Cora in the kitchen.

Wallace and Cora had been cutting up the vegetables that were laying out for a salad. Logan opened one of the bottles of wine and offered to pour some for everyone. Wallace asked for a beer instead, and Cora and Veronica each took a glass of wine from Logan.

"Nice cake," Wallace said grinning at Veronica. "Was Logan too cheap to buy a nice one from the bakery for you?" She glared at him and then tossed a chunk of cucumber at him, while Logan just shook his head. He knew better than to jump into that mine field.

As they chatted and worked on the rest of the meal in the kitchen, Logan noticed Veronica kept looking at the clock, and seemed to be getting more nervous the closer it got to 4pm. She practically jumped when the door bell rang at 3:45. Logan put a soothing hand on her shoulder and then walked to the door, with her following behind him.

Mac and Dick were the ones at the door, and after quickly greeting them and walking with them to the kitchen, Logan asked if Veronica could help him with something on the patio, and left the others inside talking.

Once the door was closed behind them, he pulled her over to the side of the house next to the door. She gave him a puzzled look as he brushed some hair out of her face and stared intently at her.

"What?" She asked, pretending she didn't know she was acting strangely.

He gave her a 'seriously' look and shook his head slightly at her. "Can we quickly talk about what's going on with you? What's wrong?"

She sighed and shook her head, looking down at his chest instead of his face. He tipped her chin up again so she had to look at him. He smiled and looked at her quizzically. "I know the drill, no talk of milky thighs," he said in a teasing tone.

She sighed and smiled slightly. "That's not it," after a pause though she added with a slightly stern look, "though those rules do still apply."

He nodded and smiled. "Then what's bothering you?"

She exhaled a deep breath, "I'm just not sure my dad is going to be thrilled with all the decisions I've made this week."

Logan gave her an understanding smile, "You know he's going to be thrilled to have you back in Neptune." She nodded in agreement. "I'm sure he'd also rather hear you're going to take a job with the DA's office, but he loves you and eventually you'll convince him you made the right decision for you."

She smiled lovingly at him. "And staying here with you?" She asked with her eyebrows raised slightly.

He chuckled softly, "Yeah, you're on your own with that one." She made a slightly angry face at him and he laughed softly and leaned in and kissed her. "But my preference would be that you lead with the job decision so his blind rage over that might spare me later."

She scrunched up her face and poked him in the stomach. "Glad to see you're looking out for your self there buddy."

He smiled lovingly at her. His eyes traveling from her eyes down to her lips then back up her face, landing on her eyes again. "It's going to be fine, Veronica." She sighed and reached up to wrap her hands behind his head and pulled his face down closer to her. His eyes had traveled back down to watch as she licked her lips a bit nervously and then he pressed his lips to hers in a deeper kiss than before.

They didn't hear the door to the patio open and were startled by someone clearing their throat.

"Daddy," Veronica said sweetly, as she dropped her hands from Logan's neck and saw Keith standing there. Logan blushed slightly and stood up straighter and tried to hide his look of embarrassment.

Keith gave them a slightly unhappy look as Alicia came out the door as well. She'd missed seeing them kissing, but given the expressions on everyone's faces and Veronica and Logan's positions, it was easy to tell what had happened.

"Hey kiddo," Keith said with a softer look on his face as he focused on just her, "it's so good to see you." Veronica walked over and gave him a hug, leaving Logan standing near the side of the house.

After Veronica stepped away from Keith, his expression turned serious again and he looked back toward Logan. "Logan." He said rather curtly with a slight nod of his head.

Veronica had given Alicia a quick hug after her dad, and then turned back to look at the two men. Logan nodded back, surprised a bit at Keith's tone, so he replied somewhat seriously as well. "Mr. Mars."

Alicia shook her head. "Seriously?" she asked looking between the two men with an exasperated tone. "Like you didn't expect this to happen," she said to Keith as she walked over toward Logan and gave him a big hug. "It's good to see you Logan. Thanks so much for inviting us over for dinner." She wrapped her arm around Logan's waist and gave Keith a hard stare for a moment. "Do you need any help in the kitchen with anything?" she asked Logan sweetly as the two of them walked back toward the house.

Logan glanced over his shoulder at Veronica and could tell she looked a bit worried about being left alone out there with Keith. "Let's give them some time to catch up," Alicia said loud enough for them all to hear her and kept Logan moving back in side.

Veronica smiled a bit uncomfortably at Keith, and then laughed. "Welcome home pops!" she said in a cheery voice. He laughed back and his expression softened again. She gestured toward the ocean. "Do you want to walk out to the beach?" He nodded and put his arm around her shoulders and they headed down the path toward the beach and the gazebo.

"Did you enjoy the cruise?" Veronica asked as they started walking down the path. He said he did and filled her in on a few of his favorite ports that they stopped at as they headed toward the beach. When they reached the Gazebo they took a seat side by side on one of the large lounges, looking out toward the ocean.

"Thanks for all the help at the office while I was gone," Keith said with a warm smile on his face. "I stopped by for a couple hours earlier this afternoon and was amazed at how much you did while I was away." She nodded and smiled back. His expression became a bit more serious as he continued, "Are you ready to tell me what happened in Massachusetts now?" His brow was furrowed in a concerned look as he watched her face intently.

She shrugged, and then sighed slightly. "I sort of got into a bit of trouble at work and was suspended when I first came out here." His look became a bit more worried at her confession. She smiled a bit and continued, "I found out this week that they unsuspended me though, but I also decided I don't want to go back."

His expression stayed serious, "Is that because of Logan?"

She immediately shook her head. "No," but then she paused a moment, "that's not the only reason at least. I just wasn't really that happy out there, with work or my life…"

He softened his expression a bit more, "I thought you were happy though, with your job and Dillon?"

She laughed bitterly, "Let's just say Dillon wasn't as happy with me as I thought and that our relationship was over before I even flew back to Neptune." He nodded in understanding, sensing that he wasn't going to get any more from her on that topic, and that he probably was better off not knowing more by the tone she took.

"So," he said more softly, "what are you planning to do now?"

"Logan tried to talk me into joining the DA's office here in Neptune and I talked with Roger, but I'm just not sure being a lawyer is what really makes me the happiest." She sighed and looked at him with a bit of concern in her expression. "I like investigating more than just following all the procedures involved with processing law cases." She hesitated for another moment before she continued, "Leo actually offered me a full time consulting position with the Sheriff's department."

She saw a wave of concern flash over his face. "Veronica," he said in a soft pleading tone, "are you really sure that's the best thing for you?"

She shrugged and looked out at the ocean for a moment. "I think so, but I'm sure I'd have other options if it turns out I'm wrong. I'd have to take the California Bar to practice out here anyway, so if working for the Sheriff's office doesn't really make me happy, I could always pursue that option again too."

"Maybe you should take some more time to think about it," He said in a more supportive tone. "How long do you have to make your decision?"

She looked firmly at him, "I've already decided." She sighed softly and then continued, "I called Pete this morning and let him know I'm not coming back so he can start working on hiring a replacement."

His expression became a bit grim and he nodded in understanding. He smiled softly at her and put his arm around her shoulder, "I'm excited to have you back in Neptune, you know?" She nodded. "I'd just rather have you working on less dangerous things."

She sighed and shook her head, "I went through the same thing with Logan. I'd be working closely with the Sheriff's department, and not going out on my own after dangerous criminals."

He looked at her skeptically. "I know you Veronica, and I also know you have a bad habit of going after a lead when you come across one, and I'm not sure I believe you'd always wait for official backup."

She grinned a bit sheepishly at him, "Well, I'll try my hardest to follow the rules at least."

He laughed and shook his head. "And you and Logan?" he asked as a concerned expression settled on his face again.

She shrugged and looked out the ocean again before turning back toward him, with a much sadder look on her face. "Why didn't you tell me he came to my law school graduation?"

He sighed and his expression softened as well. "Whenever I would mention running into Logan to you, you would immediately tell me you didn't want to hear about it. That you didn't want to worry about what was going on with him in Neptune while you were trying to finish school and start your career out there. I figured it was better to follow your wishes than to push it on you." He watched her carefully, "Sounds like the two of you did a lot of catching up the past two weeks."

She nodded and looked down at her lap, biting a bit on her lower lip. "It's been really good. We've both changed a lot compared to who we were 8 years ago." Keith nodded in understanding. "Are you going to be able to accept me being with him now?"

Keith made a serious face, "Well he is the Mayor of Neptune, talk about a bad influence on my daughter. Maybe we could find you a nice guy at one of the bars by the tracks on the bad side of town instead." She laughed and elbowed him lightly in the side causing him to abandon the serious face and laugh along with her.

"I know Logan's not the same messed up teenager that you dated before you left Veronica." He looked at her lovingly, "I want you to be happy and if you want to give it another try with him, I can accept that."

She bit her lip again and looked at him a bit nervously. "I've also decided I'm going to stay here with him for now."

She saw a look of disapproval cross his face. "Veronica..."

She cut him off before he could continue. "I'm an adult now and I have the right to decide where to live even if you don't agree." She stared at him with a stubborn look on her face.

Keith took a deep unsteady breath. "Fine, but I'm going to pretend you're living in one of his guest rooms as a consideration to your newly remarried dad, rather than it being anything else."

She cringed a bit at the thought of her dad being anything close to a newlywed and why he'd want privacy. Then she laughed and nodded. "Works for me." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I'm really happy to be home dad."

"I'm really happy you're home too," he said as he squeezed her shoulder and kissed her lovingly on the top of her head. They sat there together watching the ocean for a few more minutes before they headed back up to the house.

Logan was out at the grill cooking the steaks, and everyone else had also headed out to the patio area. Darryl and Dick had changed into swim trunks and were taking turns diving and cannon-balling into the pool. Logan gave her a curious look as they came up the beach path. She gave him a warm smile in return so he knew everything was okay.

Keith walked over and stood next to Logan, placing his arm across Logan's shoulder. "Need any help with the steaks? You know I like mine medium rare."

Logan smiled and nodded, pointing his tongs at one of the steaks. "That one right there has your name on it." Keith laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm going to grab a beer. Do you need anything?" Keith asked, seeing Logan had the grilling under control.

Logan shook his head, "I'm good, but thanks Keith." Keith nodded and headed into the house.

Veronica had been watching their little interaction and went over behind Logan and put her arms around his waist, peeking around him at the steaks. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Everything go okay out there?" She nodded and smiled at him. "I told you it would," he said with a little mischievous wink.

Veronica gave him one more squeeze, and then wandered over to see what Alicia and the other women were talking about. Alicia was admiring Mac's engagement ring, which Veronica also had not seen yet. It of course looked to be quite expensive with a large diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds set in a platinum band.

"So have you picked a date yet?" Alicia asked curiously.

"We're thinking maybe in December actually, maybe even New Years or between Christmas and New Years." Mac replied with a large smile on her face.

Cora gave her a surprised look. "I thought you'd originally said you really wanted to have a summer wedding?"

Mac shrugged, "We thought we might do it sooner rather than later, so we've been talking about December now."

Veronica gave her a suspicious look as well, "Any special reason you're in such a rush? Didn't you just get engaged less than a month ago?"

Mac smiled and shook her head, "No special reason, we just decided we didn't want to wait until the summer."

Alicia noticed Keith coming back out with his beer and excused herself from the other women. Cora said she was going to run in for some more wine and asked if she could get some for Mac or Veronica. Veronica said she'd love another glass and Mac declined.

Veronica shot Mac another suspicious glance after Cora had left to go into the house. "Are you sure there isn't a small special reason you're getting married so soon?" Veronica asked, emphasizing the word 'small'. Mac shook her head, but that didn't stop Veronica from speculating that there was something else going on, but if her friend wasn't ready to admit it, then she wasn't going to push.

"Hey, I meant to ask you, but haven't gotten around to it yet, if you would be one of my bridesmaids. Lauren is going to be my maid of honor, and Cora is going to be one of my bridesmaids too and I'd love it if you were one as well." She smiled hopefully at Veronica before adding, "Of course Logan is Dick's best man too."

Veronica smiled and then replied happily that of course she'd love to be one of the bridesmaids, "Just promise me I won't have to wear some ridiculous frilly dress though?"

Mac laughed at that and shook her head. "We'll find something suitable, I promise. And it's going to be a fairly small ceremony, with just close friends and family."

Veronica noticed that Logan was starting to take some of the steaks off the grill, so Mac and Veronica also headed back toward the kitchen to help bring the rest of the food out for dinner.

Most of the dinner conversation consisted of Alicia and Keith telling them all about their cruise and sharing some of the pictures they had already had printed out. Soon they were all finishing up their meal and Alicia and Veronica had brought out the birthday cake for her dad. She'd bought a pack of candles at the grocery store and put a few in for her dad to blow out. Logan caught Dick tipping his head and looking curiously at the cake. Dick was sitting across from him and Logan kicked his foot under the table and gave him a warning look and shook his head. Dick grinned back and chuckled lightly.

Mac and Cora helped with clean up when they were all done eating, insisting that Alicia relax with the guys. Logan wandered in after the women, also carrying some of the dirty dishes. He pulled out a trash can and made quick work of cleaning off the plates and putting them in the sink to rinse. Veronica stood there a bit surprised for a moment watching him, but Mac and Cora just kept chatting and handing the dishes to him.

Mac noticed her expression, "What, you didn't know he's sort of particular about how the dishes get done?" Cora laughed and nodded and headed back out to the patio to get more of the dirty plates to bring inside.

Logan rolled his eyes and went back to rinsing plates and started putting them in the dishwasher. Veronica laughed and shook her head.

"I'm just better at spatial relations than you are," he said to Mac, obviously referring to a previous failed attempt at doing his dishes. Mac shrugged and went out to help Cora.

Logan glanced at Veronica, "Don't say it, I know…" She just giggled and moved closer so she could give him a kiss on the cheek.

"No commentary here." She smiled mischievously and continued to just watch him work.

A short while later everyone had said their goodbyes, leaving Logan and Veronica alone again. She gave him a curious look.

"What are you thinking, Miss Mars?" He asked suspiciously.

She shrugged and then looked at him a bit seductively. "When I was down at the gazebo earlier, I remembered we never made it back out there at night yet to watch the ocean."

He smiled lovingly back at her and reached out his hand for her. There was still a half-full bottle of wine left, so he grabbed that and two glasses, while Veronica grinned slyly and grabbed a container of brownies that Mac had brought. Logan gave her a loving smile and then led her out the back door toward the beach path. There was a switch near the outdoor shower that he pressed and it turned on little lights that illuminated the pathway to the beach. Veronica smiled in delight seeing how romantic and perfect it looked.

Once they got to the gazebo, he flipped another switch, which turned the path lights off, so they wouldn't distract from the stars and the moon illuminating the ocean. He turned another light on momentarily to unlock the cabinet that held the towels and blankets. He pulled out a couple of blankets and pillows, and placed them on one of the large lounge chairs as Veronica placed the brownies and wine on the table next to it. He turned the lights off again, so they could enjoy the view from the darkened gazebo. They got comfortable on the chair and Logan poured two glasses of wine, while Veronica opened the brownie container and handed him one. They sat snuggled together under the blankets listening to the waves crash along the sand. After Veronica finished her brownie, she put her wine glass down too and turned to see if he was done as well. He smiled lovingly at her and set his glass down too, running his hands along her body under the blankets.

"Guess what I want to do now?" Veronica purred as she turned to straddle his lap, and placed soft kisses up his neck.

"Mmmm…" Logan moaned back. "Surf?" he replied in a teasing tone.

She shook her head and smiled, then replied in a sultry voice. "I want to ride something besides waves tonight."

He chuckled in amusement at her, and then looked more seriously at her. "I love you so much, Veronica."

She smiled lovingly back at him and kissed him passionately on the lips. "And I love you too."

She knew they'd probably still have more challenges to work through, but she was more than happy with how everything was going so far. She was so relieved that her dad didn't really object to any of her plans and that he and Logan really did seem to get along well now. She was also excited about the idea of starting to work on cases for the Sheriff's department.

Logan had started moving his mouth over her neck, and she reached down to remove her shirt for him. He paused to admire her in the moonlight once her shirt was off. He ran his hand up into her hair and placed kisses along her collar bone as she kissed the top of his head and ran her fingers through his hair as well. Making love with Logan by the ocean under the stars was something she didn't think she'd ever get tired of. As long as they had each other, she really believed there wasn't any challenge they couldn't face together.


End file.
